a stoic mind and a bleeding heart
by Regal-Song
Summary: David appears on Regina's doorstep with a change of mind and heart. But a night alone with the Evil Queen could have dire consequences for the fate of his true love.
1. Chapter 1

Regina startled at the sound of strong knuckles rapping against the hard-wood of her front door. She looked up at the clock; setting aside the blood-red apple she'd been peeling to study the slowly ticking hands.

It was almost midnight; Henry had been fast asleep for hours, and even though she was wrapped in her most comfortable silk pyjamas – and had attempted twice, to climb into bed and find her own slumber, resulting only in nightmares – she'd failed entirely and settled for aggressively peeling apples with the self-righteous faces of Snow White and Emma Swan in the back of her mind.

The sound of the rather frenzied knocking came again and Regina dashed up from the dining table, her apple and knife forgotten on the mahogany table-top as she flung the door open, irritation written across her face as she hissed her annoyance - over the chance they'd wake her son - at her intruder. It was a moment before she realized who it was that stood on her cold, wet doorstep.

She blinked in the darkness; her frown smoothed out and her chin rose as she met the eyes of the man that stood before her. "David?" She questioned, unapologetic for the manner in which she'd greeted him, though her tone changed from one of annoyance to one of surprised curiosity. "What are you doing here?" She hadn't forgotten the last night he'd been in her home; when he'd rejected her; walked away from her and the remnants of her favourite mirror had lain on the floor of her foyer for the better part of the following day. It still stung; regardless of how little she was willing to admit the whole ordeal wasn't entirely about hurting Mary-Margaret.

She'd thought, over the years, she'd become numb enough to their cruelty; but every rejection and cruel word was still like a dagger to her heart – even her dreams played out her fears in startling clarity. With every turned back she felt her body sink deeper and deeper, until she was clawing at the earth, shouting for help and not a single one of them was willing to offer her a hand and pull her back up. And she found herself, on nights like that, sitting at her dining table with her sleeping son upstairs, wishing for an outcome that didn't end in yet more pain.

"I've been thinking," He twitched and she could see him nervously twisting his fingers together in front of him. She forced herself to bite her tongue. She wanted to tell the man to just spit it out already, so that she could go back to wallowing in self-pity and deprecating thoughts of losing their silent war. But Regina was curious.

He looked nervous, his face was a little flushed and as she crossed her arms under her breasts, fighting the cold and regretting the absence of her robe; she saw his eyes shift and his tongue run across his bottom lip, just once.

Her eyes widened just a little. "I wanted to talk about the other night, if we could?" Regina continued to stare at him, realizing exactly what 'other night' he was referring too. She wasn't sure if she could do it – the notion of hurting Snow through David had been a last-ditch attempt at the time. She'd felt petty and frustrated and she'd wanted to hurt her in any way that she could. But that feeling had dissipated, at least for the time-being. Regina still wanted to win, but the idea of doing it through David, had been set aside.

Now he stood on her doorstep, shifting from foot to foot – either from the cold or the nerves, she wasn't sure.

"Aren't you cold?" He questioned and Regina furrowed her brow and looked down towards her bare feet, curling against the stone step.

"Freezing." She admitted, hopping a little as she stepped back inside and plastered the sweetest late-night smile on her face that she could muster as he stepped around her; she did her level best to seem unperturbed by the intrusion. "So," She started, pulling the door closed and turning around to see that David hadn't moved further into the house. He was standing so close that when she turned, her face almost collided with his broad chest and she felt her hands reflexively press against his biceps. She gasped in surprise and slowly looked up to meet his eye; seeing there, an expression she hadn't thought she'd ever see.

"I lied." He breathed out and Regina found herself wanting to run and yet, strangely wanting to stay exactly where she was. She'd struggle to admit it to another living soul; but the warmth of David's toned, flannel-covered body pressed up against hers, was oddly satisfying. And painfully familiar.

"You lied?" She dipped her head nervously, grateful in the knowledge that he had no idea who she really was, because she'd never be able to live down the fact the nefarious Queen was unsettled by a Shepherd taking up her personal space.

"Yeah," He seemed to lean even further into her personal space, until their faces where mere inches apart and she could feel his breath on her lips. She found herself staring at those lips – they were pink and symmetrical and she wondered how a man with such pink lips could be considered so ruggedly handsome. She wanted to slap herself.

"About what?" Her tone had lowered too, the closer they got the more their voices became intimate whispers and she tried with all her might, to hold back the smallest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips.

"About what we have, together." She tilted her head, entirely aware of the point he was trying to make. But she wouldn't be the manipulative mastermind that she was, if she didn't force him to say it out loud. "This is great, what we have. This friendship, it's great and it's not what I expected. But," He took a deep breath; the rise of his chest pushing him even closer to her until their stomach's pressed together and Regina's heart quickened. "There's more here."

"You're wrong." Her eyes hardened but she blinked rapidly; surprised when David nodded his head.

"It's not love." He admitted, which had her dumbfounded. She wasn't surprised that he didn't love her; she wasn't that naive or even that vain. What did surprise her was that a man like David – Prince Charming – would stand before her and admit that what he wanted from her was nothing more than a carnal romp.

"No," She agreed, shocking herself when she realized she didn't even care. She didn't love him either, but she was loathe to admit she was attracted to him. He was almost a foot taller than her; his shoulders were broad and his arms had - without her knowledge – wrapped themselves around her waist. She could feel his calloused fingers working their way under the hem of her shirt, brushing along the base of her spine and she had to bite down on her lip to suppress a shudder. Was it so bad she was willing to go through with it for the simple fact that he was the first man to come to her, since Daniel, because he wanted to?

She could see the lust in his eyes. He pressed himself closer against her, until her back was against the wall and she could feel his fingers in her hair. He hadn't kissed her, not yet, but he was close enough that the slightest twitch would bring their lips together. And it was then that she saw it; the real truth.

Grabbing a firm hold at the back of his neck, Regina slammed her lips against his. It was hard and painful and she could feel her teeth clatter against his, her tongue dove into his mouth as he picked her up off the ground and on instinct, her legs wrapped around his waist. "Maybe its best," She gasped; her eyes rolling back in her head as David switched her swollen lips for the curve of her throat and sucked, hard. "If we don't talk."

"Why?" He questioned, wrapping his arms around her waist tighter, holding her firm as he attacked her collarbone with feverish kisses.

"Because we both know why you're here and talking about it will only force you to admit it."

David stopped suddenly. He didn't let her go, which surprised her as she looked down into his eyes. She expected him to put her back down, to step away from her and nervously fumble a ridiculously contrived apology, but he didn't. He held her firm with one arm and her back against the wall as he reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"How is it you understand me so well? Am I that transparent?"

For the first time in a long time, Regina genuinely smiled. It was a pained, knowing smile – a far cry from the lustrous smiles of her youth – but an honest one nonetheless.

"No," She sighed. "But we all of us have unattainable dreams; some more impossible than others." She could feel the tear in the corner of her eye and hoped that the darkness in the hall shielded the view of it from David's curious eyes.

The pad of his thumb pressed to her cheek-bone, stated otherwise. "What was his name?"

Regina cleared her throat and attempted not to look at him, though it was difficult from her position wedged between his body and the wall. "It doesn't matter."

"That's fair enough. We don't have to do this," He paused and Regina found herself looking back down at him again. "I can leave if you ask me to."

"We're adults," She weaved her fingertips through the short hairs at the back of his neck. "And I know why you're here." She knew a lot more than that, actually. And she knew that his vigor was directly related to the weakening of the curse. He needed, more passionately, to find his true love and she could only assume that Mary-Margaret had once again turned him away. So he'd come to, likely, the last place he knew he wasn't going to get a door slammed in his face.

"That makes one of us." He sighed but was cut short before he could elaborate. Regina's lips were once again crushed to his and his arms came up to wrap completely around her. She held on for dear life, clutching his shoulders as she kissed him. They broke apart only long enough to navigate the stairs and Regina covered his mouth with her hand as they passed Henry's door. She'd checked in on him right after her last vivid nightmare, terrified it had come true; only to be relieved and wide awake when she saw that he was sleeping peacefully.

David stumbled through her bedroom door, awkwardly lowering her to stand on her own two feet as he shrugged off his jacket. Regina pulled her top straight over her head, tousling her hair as she backed up toward the bed. She'd tried with Graham, to pretend. But his body was too lean, his heart too different. But David's hands were steady and broad and when she licked her lips and pressed her eyes closed, feeling the line of his muscles beneath her fingertips, she could almost smell the hay-bales. She could pretend the cool chill from the window was in fact the night air drifting through the stables and she could almost believe, has he captured her mouth with his, that she was really there, with_ him_.

To be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything happened so incredibly fast, Regina barely had a clue what to do with herself. She'd felt the curse weakening; she'd noticed it in the smallest of ways. She had a single frown line between her eyes, noticed a grey hair that had been immediately pulled. Her one night with David, which brought a shudder to her as she remembered it, had felt so very different somehow; like something inside of her had changed as he collapsed against her between her Egyptian cotton sheets, pressed wet kisses to her collarbone and stated – once again – how much he didn't love her; except that final time he'd declared how much it scared him that he could.

He didn't know who he was at the time, but she did. And it made the sentiment all the more cruel.

Her tree was dying – impossible seeing as nothing was able to die, nothing aged, nothing altered. But Emma Swan had been a catalyst for so much change; Regina had stopped wondering as to how, and started praying there was a way to fix it. Because if she couldn't win, she was going to make damn sure Snow White couldn't. She'd worked so hard; far too hard to give up when the world started caving in.

It didn't matter though – she did win. Emma had the apple turnover; she was going to eat it. The sleeping curse would take her and she'd be entombed for all eternity – making absolutely positive the curse would hold fast. That was, until she'd gotten the call.

Within an instant she didn't care about the curse or all of those retched townspeople. None of them gave a damn about her anyway, as their Queen or their Mayor – regardless of her efforts over the twenty-eight years they thought she'd been just a small-town politician. She didn't care about Snow White, or Emma, or David...she took a deep breath as everything that had happened, started to really sink in.

David. She didn't care about David. Of course she didn't.

Emma broke the curse and she'd been forced to run. The self-righteous Blue Fairy, forecasting her doom before she'd even had a chance to revel in the fact that – curse be damned, her son was alive. She didn't care about anything else. That was, until she was ever so gently reminded of how much they hated her.

It was just one tragedy after another. She'd threatened David; she'd held him against a wall and threatened to squeeze the life out of him. She'd seen in his eyes, the betrayal and the hurt; a mixture of the loss of his family and the secret that lived within them both. Henry saved him and for that she was silently grateful, allowing her guilt to accept Henry's plea to leave everyone alone.

She'd felt like a leper in a great alabaster tower. Pristine walls, manicured gardens and a prisoner inside that was poisonous to the touch. It hadn't stopped David, though – and even though he'd come to her with venom on his lips – he'd come. He'd come without fear and he'd looked her in the eye with the bitter vengeance of a man who'd lost everything – an image she knew all too well – and he'd demanded she release her son to him. For all the people that could have come, for all the love she had for her son. She was loathe to admit she likely wouldn't have given him up for anyone less.

She didn't love David. She didn't want him. But she could feel something growing within her. A fondness, one might say, for the man that remembered she had a name.

He wasn't as cruel to her as she'd expected; noticing something in him shift as well when he realized the honesty in what she'd told him. He didn't trust her and she couldn't honestly blame him, but there was something else there; something she would have sworn dead when the curse finally broke.

She'd kept herself hidden away in her home, behind closed doors and far away from prying, judging eyes. She had ample time to consider her options and she knew, if there was any chance of getting Henry back, she needed to tread carefully. Three weeks since Emma and Mary-Margaret had fallen through the portal and almost five since David had appeared on her doorstep, Regina's face paled as she sat with her head against the ivory tiles of her ensuite; cool against her clammy skin as she fought the urge to throw up. She'd almost considered letting the phone ring out, but with the fear that something could have happened to Henry, she splashed water on her face and dashed to the cordless receiver on her nightstand.

She was relieved to know the news was simply that David had promised Henry ice-cream for a near-perfect report card; what surprised Regina, though, wasn't so much that David had consulted her – as to whether the reward was ample enough or far too generous – it was that he actually invited Regina along. She'd considered not going; looking down at her hands shaking as she'd placed the phone back on the hook. She was nervous, agitated and terrified of how she would speak to David. The last thing she wanted to do was appear weak in front of any of the townspeople – she didn't want to appear as though she'd bend for any of them but Henry.

But she did need to talk to David, she knew she did. Running her hands through her hair, Regina let out a shuddering sigh and paced the bedroom, her bare toes pressing against the soft, stark white carpet. She needed an excuse to talk to him and unwittingly he was giving her one; but she was completely at a loss as to what to say.

Most people would have thought it crazy, bundled up in winter coats and the three of them filing into the only ice-cream parlour in town. The woman behind the counter – David had never known her personally in Storybrooke, but he recognised her then as the old woman who'd once lived in a house that rather remarkably resembled a shoe; near to his mother's cottage – she cast Regina a wary glance, noting how uneasy Henry still seemed to be around his mother, regardless of his excitement for ice-cream; but David smiled brightly, defending her against any speculation she was there for anything other than ice-cream with her son.

David ordered vanilla in a waffle-cone with a flake, Henry had Mint-chocolate chip and reluctantly – swallowing back a faint wave of nausea – Regina accepted when Henry ordered for her; Rocky-Road, her favourite.

David and Regina sat in silence, smiling whenever Henry's excitement peaked as he recounted the events of his day. Every now and then, David glanced over at her and took note that her small tub of ice cream, covered in marshmallows and chocolate syrup, was almost completely untouched.

He took a moment to study her as her attention was completely focussed on her son's tale. He twitched as he saw her smile and though the sentiment didn't seem to reach her eyes completely, it was a genuine, loving smile. She had a pallor complexion though, paler than her usual warm tan – that was always in direct contrast with the Maine weather – and while she was wrapped up in a warm, black coat with a thick scarf around her neck – leather gloves over her hands – she still seemed chilled.

"Are you alright, Regina?" He asked worriedly, fearing somehow that she was ill and no one had come near enough to her to notice, or care. He understood the fears and reservations of the town – and to her credit, he was fairly certain Regina did too – but to completely ignore the woman, when it was becoming more and more clear that she was unwell; made him rather silently furious.

He couldn't accurately note, though, whether he was angry with the rest of the town or himself. Had the breaking of the curse blinded him completely, from the fact that David Nolan – a large part of who he would forever be – had trusted her and cared for this woman.

"Yes," She sighed, blinking at him in surprise at his sudden concern. "I'm fine." The entirely emotionless response she gave wasn't completely lost on either David or her son.

"It's just, you look a bit pale and you haven't touched your ice cream."

It was then that Henry noticed it too, looking down at her small tub with a furrow between his brows. "Are you sick, mom? But you're never sick."

"I'm not sick, Henry." She smiled reassuringly, touching his cheek ever so briefly with the back of her fingers before hiding her hand in her lap. She hesitated for a moment, taking in a deep breath and avoiding the eyes of them both.

She'd agreed to the meeting so that she could see Henry and she'd almost convinced herself that she'd find a way to talk to David, but it was too difficult, she couldn't bring herself to do it. Hesitantly, she turned her eyes to Henry and offered him a shaky smile. "I'm proud of you, for your report card." She breathed, leaning over to press a kiss to his temple; grateful that in his confusion, he didn't pull away. "But I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Regina, wait!" David called, but she was out the door before he managed to finish her name; leaving behind a space in the booth next to Henry and an untouched Rocky-Road tub, dripping condensation onto the table-top.

Regina hadn't been so confused in a long time. She knew what she wanted, she knew what she'd always wanted and she knew that the things she'd done – since her chance at happiness had been denied – were unforgivable. But she wasn't asking to be forgiven; she knew that'd be too much. She asked simply to be redeemed. To prove the woman she'd always wanted to be was in there somewhere for the sake of her child.

She looked down, dropping herself into the plush sofa in her library with a heavy sigh. She felt so bereft. Henry was clearly fine, coping well with David; but she couldn't shake the bitterness that settled in her gut over her son sleeping in Mary-Margaret's home; in what was Emma's bed. She shook her head, pressing her hand to her stomach as she swallowed against the ache at the thought.

She jumped clean out of her skin when there was a loud knock on the door. She hesitated; staring at the entry to the library, hoping whoever it was would just go away. She wasn't fit to be seen. The nausea seemed to have passed, but she still couldn't work up the incentive to greet anyone. She didn't have the energy to pull her stoic mask into place.

"Regina," She startled when David appeared in the library. He looked worried – dare she admit it – and a little bit out of breath.

"David?" She breathed, pulling herself up from the sofa and straightening her blouse. "Where's Henry?"

"I left him with Ruby," He took a step towards her. "I thought, maybe if he wasn't here you'd tell me what's going on? iAre/i you sick?"

"Oh, because that would be so convenient, wouldn't it?" She huffed, storming passed him. "Hopefully the Evil Queen will become deathly ill, and if we're really lucky," She rolled her eyes storming into the kitchen. "Maybe she'll die and we won't have to lift a finger. Is that what they're all thinking?"

"What?" David was flabbergasted, following her through into the kitchen. "What, Regina? No."

She eyed him.

"Okay, you're not the most popular, I'll give you that."

She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine," David sighed, stepping up to her; moving into her personal space. Regina didn't back away, she wasn't afraid of him, but she didn't uncross her arms either. "At least; that's not what I'm thinking."

"And what are you thinking, David?"

"Truthfully," He looked down into her eyes, seeing – in his mind's eye – the smile she'd shared with him that one night. The one night he'd needed Mary-Margaret and she wasn't there, where Regina had taken him in, knowing he was playing pretend. He realized now that she'd known all along; she'd been the Evil Queen every moment of every day since they'd been trapped. But she'd seemed different that night – freer, somehow – and she'd even called out his name, at least it had sounded like his name. He'd heard the start but the rest had died in a gasp as he'd sucked on her bottom lip. "Regina," He reached out to grasp her elbows and she felt herself recoiling at the gesture, but she didn't move. "I don't know. I just know that I don't want you to be sick and I don't want you to die. Henry doesn't want you to die either."

He didn't mention how her eyes had tinged red just a little, how the corners had become glassy and how he noticed the dip of her throat as she swallowed. "Well," She straightened her shoulders. "I'm not sick."

He nodded slowly. "Then what happened? You were pale this afternoon."

Finally Regina did step back and turn away, unable to maintain the strong mask of the Queen as her thoughts twirled inside her head. Henry had asked her to help, to not use magic, to be better. He'd asked her to change, but what was he going to think? There was no way he was going to believe it was an accident. But it was. And for the first few hours she hadn't believed it to be possible. They'd been cursed, even her. Time was frozen, lives were frozen. No one came or went from Storybrooke and nothing changed. There were no new children at the school, no new people in the town.

And yet.

"Regina," David sighed and she could hear there was a certain level of concern in his voice. That night, he'd profusely declared how much he didn't love her and she'd passionately agreed how foolish the notion was. They'd agreed to pretend because he couldn't have Mary-Margaret and she was never going to see Daniel ever again.

But something had changed between them that night. It wasn't love, it couldn't be. But there was a connection that couldn't be denied. There was the overwhelming feeling that David needed her to be alright, even if he didn't understand it. "Please, Regina, you're scaring me. If you're not sick then how come..."

She cut him short as she turned around suddenly, the faintest of tears trickling down her cheek.

"I'm pregnant."

To Be Continued.


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure?" David spluttered and Regina stared at him, at a loss. "Right," He cleared his throat. "Of course you're sure." Regina hugged herself tighter, turning her body away from him as he brushed a hand anxiously through his hair. The two of them awkwardly stood in Regina's immaculate kitchen, each of them avoiding eye contact as David let the news sink in.

"How is that even possible?" He suddenly boomed, causing Regina to flinch at the unexpected volume of his voice. "I mean, I know how it happened," He cleared up; knowing that the eye-roll from Regina bellied an oncoming sharp retort about his understanding of where babies come from. "I mean the curse..." He started, scrubbing at the top of his head as if continued friction against his scalp would help his brain put the pieces together. "I thought time, us; everyone was frozen."

Regina slowly shrugged her shoulders. "Since Emma came to town, things started to shift, the curse was weakening. Clearly, by the time you spent the night," She hesitated, meeting his eyes and knowing as soon as she mentioned it, they both flashed back to that moment. "Clearly that night with me, the curse was weakened enough."

David seemed to consider it for a long moment, watching Regina watching him as she twitched uncomfortably and avoided looking at him. He seemed to be pondering something; something that was causing his palms to sweat because he was suddenly rubbing them together and he'd sucked in his bottom lip.

Regina braced herself for whatever insulting idiocy that was about to escape him.

"You didn't," He seemed to struggle over how best to ask. "You didn't...make this happen, did you?"

She narrowed her eyes and she could see David swallow at her barely contained rage. "No." She stated, dropping her arms quickly and storming passed him for the second time that night.

She wanted to escape him. She'd known he couldn't help himself from asking and if she were honest, she knew she couldn't blame him for wondering. There was certainly a strong case against her. But the fact of the matter was, she was as surprised by the news as he was.

"Regina, wait!" He called after her, chasing her down the hall and reaching to grasp her arm, just before she got to the stairs. He spun her back around to face him. "Look, I'm sorry, that was thoughtless of me. It's just," He sighed, letting her arm fall back to her side. "it's just a lot to take in, that's all."

"It's a lot for me too, David."

He nodded slowly, meeting her eyes apologetically. "I know, I'm sorry. I just..." His eyes pleaded with her. "What are we going to do?"

"You're asking me?"

"Yeah."

"I don't know, David. The whole town is about to accuse me of using this child to sabotage your relationship with Mary-Margaret, just to hurt her and you're asking me what you're going to do?"

David's eyes opened wide suddenly. "Oh my god; what will I tell Snow?" He choked on the word and for the briefest of moments, Regina felt that old bubble of satisfaction at seeing their suffering, but she squashed it quickly, finding no pedestal from which to gloat; not this time.

"And Henry." She sighed and could feel David's eyes on her as she dejectedly lowered herself to sit on the stairs. "He's going to think the exact same thing you did, and I don't know how I'm going to convince him of the truth."

Silently, David sat down on the step beside her. She could feel the warmth of his thigh against hers through the thin fabric of her trousers. She pressed her eyes closed for a moment, reliving the feeling of his lips against her throat before she straightened her back and stared ahead of her. "How about we keep it just between us, for now?" David suggested.

"It'll be impossible to hide, eventually."

"True," He nodded, searching the wall ahead of them for whatever held her rapt attention. "But maybe by then we'll have a better idea of what to say."

"A manner of weeks, David, that's all we have. I can already feel my body changing."

For a faint moment, Regina saw something in his eyes as he looked at her. There was a sparkle there; a strange sense of wonderment as his lips twitched – fighting a smile. But he buried it, hiding it behind a cold stare as he pulled himself back up to his feet. He couldn't appear to relish the fact that he was going to be a father again – to a child he was going to see grow and learn – especially not when that child's mother was his enemy.

* * *

"How are you?" David asked; his voice was quiet on the other end of the line. Regina could hear him shuffling around a little and hesitated on her answer. She could tell he was nervous, or distracted even. It was easier to believe the second so that she didn't have to imagine that he cared at all.

"How do you think?" She snapped, viciously.

There was silence on the line for a moment before Regina rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry, David. I..." She took a shuddering breath, trying to fight the image of Daniel's twisted expression from her mind. "It's hard."

"I understand."

"No," She tried hard not to sound venomous, it didn't help that the hurt seeped out anyway. "I don't believe you do."

"I lost Snow once; I thought I'd never get her back. And she's gone now, Emma too."

"Ah," She smiled sardonically, even though she knew David couldn't see it. "But you did get her back, you always do – no doubt the two of them will waltz back through that door in no time. And that's where we differ, David, because I will never see Daniel again."

"Regina," He started but she cut him off.

"Just forget it, David. You don't have to pretend, the child won't know if you called every day to make sure I have been eating my greens, so just stop it."

"Regina,"

"No," She paced, running her open palm across the slight bump of her belly, wishing she could convince herself it was Daniel's child that grew inside her. The idea softened her resolve somewhat and David's continued patience on the other end of the line went a long way to calming her annoyance.

She'd done her best to hide the pregnancy, but it was getting harder. Her face was getting heavier and though the more forgiving of her normal clothes still managed to hide the slight changes, sitting at home in her living room, wearing a fitted sweater, she could see the rather prominent change. It wouldn't be long until it was impossible.

"I really don't want to talk about this anymore, David."

David sighed, hearing the annoyance in her voice, though it was laced with the sadness that wasn't bound to leave her for some time to come. He was fairly certain – though he'd never call her on it – that he'd even heard a faint sniffle down the line. Her pride would never own it, so he let it rest.

"Alright," He sighed, knowing there was no way he'd be able to console Regina, let alone a hormonal Regina who'd just lost the one person in her life she'd ever truly trusted. "We don't have to talk about it anymore."

* * *

Regina hated lying to her son. She'd promised to do better, to be better. But ever since she'd found out about the baby, that's all she seemed to be doing; lying. Henry was warming to her, seeing her efforts to avoid using magic, even to the point where her presence was welcome at his bedside when he'd awoken to a particularly horrible dream.

David had reluctantly let her stay, insisting that she sleep as much as she could and did his best not to fuss over her when Henry could see or hear them. She tamped down the feeling of warmth that radiated through her, when he gave up his cushion to rest between the chair and her belly, doing her level best to ignore that her comfort meant anything to him.

But then suddenly, it was David under a sleeping curse and Henry sitting by his bedside; reading him stories from his book and wishing he'd just wake up and look him in the eye. Regina hated what she had to do, but Rumple was right. She wanted to be better and she needed to be, for her children – that meant doing anything she could to prevent her mother from coming through the portal.

Her _children_.

Regina paused in the small passageway between the front of the shop, and the small room at the back where she could hear Henry's quiet voice reading the tale of Snow White to his sleeping grandfather. She wanted to sob at the idea of it; that her son loved these people – these people that she'd wanted dead – and that this new child, this small being inside her that she had already come to cherish, would be so irrevocably linked to them.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the room; resolved to put her children before everyone and everything else.

To be continued.


	4. Chapter 4

He had her. He had her exactly where he wanted her. The work was getting harder – due to her endeavors toward good or his decline in age and power – he wasn't too sure. But once again, he had her on his string. Regina would dance, of that he was certain; all he had to do was pull at just the right moment and he'd have her power entwined with his own just as it was meant to be.

He felt a rush of power when she was near; as was always the way. Her raw energy invigorated him; that much power – contained within that one, simpering, bleeding heart – had always been a point of contention with him. The exact extent of Regina's power was a truth he shared only with himself for there was no other that could be trusted with such knowledge. For the life of him, he could never share it with another living soul; lest they steal her from him; lest they tell her she could run.

There was something different about her power now. Perhaps it was Storybrooke; he'd felt a certain twinge in his magic in the small town – it was off balance, it wasn't as fluid. But somehow he knew that wasn't what felt different about her.

There was an electricity that burned about her, a fire. Even though she walked beside him with the look of a dejected mother who'd just sold the love of her son for a pittance; her skin crackled with energy. It was invisible to the eye and likely Regina wasn't even aware of the glow surrounding her, but he could feel it in the air.

Somehow, her power had doubled since last he'd sunk his claws into her.

He could feel it radiating out from within her, crackling through the air and buzzing with life. He watched her, as she stood beside him, as her lips twitched when the fairy-dust brought the bolt of magic down into the Well. He knew that look as well as she did, the look of someone that knew what magic felt like to wield.

It was a look of pure elation, pure rapture.

Henry's voice, apparently, was enough to cast that look back into oblivion. And that's when he saw it. Regina's coat was a worthy shield; in a world where the thought was unfathomable, he'd never believed he need look further than her words. But Regina's body language had always been her strength. Her poise, her grace, her _power_; it was Regina's sharpest dagger. The fact that she'd been doing her level best to keep her posture rigid should have been his first clue.

Her child calling for her broke her concentration just long enough for the truth to lay itself out before him. The truth she'd managed to hide for several months, it seemed.

The wind that buffeted them from the magic swirling in the Well tousled her jacket and for the first time, he caught a glimpse of the protective hand she had pressed to her belly.

Oh, Regina.

He could feel his blood boiling. Both sides of his relationship with Regina were conflicted by that sudden knowledge. The part of him that had always wanted to defeat her, cataloged it for later use. Whilst the other, bitterer side – where he stored his unconscionable affection for her – knew that it could mean an end to his power.

Then it hit him. Her power was different; it had changed, it had doubled. He felt his heart soar at the thought – two of them. Lines of prophecy were blurred behind his eyes and he'd thought it was because magic in this world was so different; but he'd learned the truth. There were holes in the future because, for the first time, he was blind to her fate.

He watched her scuffle with her distressed son; holding himself still as his curse burned within the well. There was nothing to be done, the power was blocking the portal and Henry's attempts to stop it were futile. He only hoped that Regina's belief that she was no more than what he taught her to be, would hold strong. He was worried that the smallest hint that she could be more, already grew inside her.

He was a man of power and potions and the fine point of a deal. At his core a coward; the ideal shell for the Dark One's twisted magic. He understood more than anyone, the finer workings of magic; but for the longest time, he'd been unable to understand the finer workings of the heart. He'd found a way to bottle true love, indeed; but letting it free was an entirely different gift.

Regina turned slowly; the tears in her eyes giving Rumpelstiltskin a reason to fear. For the briefest instant, he feared not only for the destruction of his curse, but for the life of the woman he'd inexplicably woven into his own. He'd trained her, she belonged to him and he feared – against his will – that she was walking to her death.

He'd often threatened her life, as she had his – but neither had ever been able to deliver. It was ironic that each failure was out of fear for each other's power; his fear well-placed, though her's ill.

The look in her eye as she turned from her son, told him undeniably, that she knew what she faced.

* * *

Regina hesitated as long as she could. She wanted Henry to believe in her, of that she was certain; but his life was not the only thing at stake anymore.

She pressed her hand to her belly, feeling the life inside of her turn with the churning of her fears. But in an instant she pulled her hand away, realizing that Gold could have seen. The man was conniving enough to work it out from that one touch and she couldn't let him use it against her.

She wanted to be what Henry wished she was, but the fear of her mother coming through the portal was just too great. She couldn't let her get her hands on her children; but Henry would never believe in her if she didn't take the risk.

There was a chance that she could die; there was a chance that Rumple was right and there was no way to stop the power that blocked the portal now. But a part of her knew she had to try. Her magic had been growing along with her child. Perhaps, if they worked together, they could do it.

Regina stepped up to the well with tears blurring her vision. Her heart tightened with fear as she heard Rumple's almost worried plea. Had she been enamored with her once-tutor, she'd have almost believed that he cared; but she knew better.

Henry was her focus. She would stop the curse, for him. She stepped up to the Well and raised her hands over the swirling green vortex. A tear dripped down her cheek, falling deep into the pit of green before she summoned every ounce of power inside her and felt her head thrown back with the force of the magic.

She could feel the baby moving; her heartbeat increased as power surged through her being, from her fingertips to her toes. Her arms were thrust out as the strength of it was almost too much to contain. She felt it breaking her, splitting her in two; until a great burst of power from deep within her, pulled the last of the curse into her and threw her backwards.

She caught herself on the nearest tree, clutching at her belly with one hand and holding herself standing with the other. Silently, looking down at her hand, Regina thanked her baby for that last surge of power that ensured they both survived; but she also realized – within that short moment of elation where she realized they had survived – that the bottom had fallen out of Henry's world.

"I'm sorry, Henry." She cried, dropping herself to her knees at the foot of the tree; cradling her belly like a lifeline. Henry didn't seem to notice the gesture and she'd stopped caring what Rumple saw.

Silence descended on the forest for the longest moment until the sound of grunts could be heard from the Well.

Regina's eyes never left Henry's face as the tears were replaced with a bright smile. "Mom!" He called, dashing past Regina who leaned out, expecting him to fall into her arms. Instead she felt dirt and dried leaves between her fingers and a sharp stab of pain in her heart.

Slowly, she dragged herself to her feet. She straightened her jacket, pulling her blouse to cover her belly before tugging her coat into place. Rumple met her eye in the few seconds before he turned, walking away from them. For a moment she thought she saw pity in his eyes as he watched her shield her condition from her son; from Emma and Snow and Ruby as she dashed toward them. But she knew better of him.

She'd saved their lives. She'd saved Snow White.

She watched Henry hugging them both and though she felt the agony of Henry's rejection fresh in her heart, she couldn't deny that she was glad to see him happy.

Snow and Ruby dashed off without a word and Regina realized it was for the best. She wasn't sure if – given her condition and the overwhelming desire she suddenly had to throw up – she'd have been able to stomach Snow's saccharine condescension.

To Be Continued.


	5. Chapter 5

Snow dashed through Mr Gold's shop, letting the little bell jingle incessantly as she slapped her hand against one of the numerous glass counters, skilfully avoiding tripping on an antique porcelain elephant as she leaped through the curtain. Everyone in the room looked up at her as she pushed past Bashful, dropping herself to David's side and gripping his face in her hands.

Everyone watched on as she pressed her lips to his. There was silence throughout the room, Emma moved up beside Ruby with Henry under her arm and much to her own surprise, Regina followed closely behind. She hugged her jacket tighter around herself, mindful of her appearance as she lingered in the back behind the anxious dwarves.

Hushed murmurs sounded throughout the room when Snow's lips pulled away from David's and nothing had happened. "No," She choked and Regina looked up, curious. "No, it can't be. David please," She begged him and suddenly, Regina felt her heart-rate increase. She started to panic, it couldn't be; she pressed a hand to her stomach beneath her coat. This couldn't be happening; Snow had to be his true love; He had to wake up.

She could feel a few sets of eyes on her, burning her skin like hot-pokers as though they somehow knew what she'd done; as though they blamed her for David's condition when she'd done nothing but what he'd asked of her. She hugged herself tightly, ignoring them as they glared. This wasn't her fault, it couldn't be; she didn't love him.

She watched intently as Snow kissed David again, letting her hot-tears press against their lips as she wept, begging him to wake. She gripped his shoulders tightly, pressing her lips to his a third time before that golden wave of magic finally spread out between them.

Regina let out a long breath and turned her eyes to the window when she heard David's gasp. For a second she pressed her eyes closed as she felt the overbearing gaze of Snow's protectors, leave her. "You did it." She heard David whisper and though Snow's reply was inaudible to her from the distance, she knew it'd be something inane and cliché, so she was glad to be deaf to it.

* * *

Regina turned back from the window when Henry sidled up in front of her, purporting a cute little swagger he used to put on when he was being particularly cheeky. She'd missed that sly little walk, so much so, that its brief return brought a quirk to her lips.

"I was right."

Regina quirked her brow, wondering what he was referring to. "You have changed." Before she could even respond, his arms had wrapped around her waist. She panicked for a moment, fearing that he'd discover her secret as it pressed between them but the added volume of both their coats and her awkward scramble to pull her hands from her pockets, seemed to be enough to dissuade him.

He hugged her tightly, pressed his cheek to her chest and Regina could barely breathe for a moment as she processed the feel of him in her arms again. She was almost hesitant to touch him, for fear he'd disappear. But when he looked up into her eyes with a genuine smile and she heard him say "Thank you," the desire to holding him tighter won out.

She pressed her hand to the back of his head, whilst her other spread out across his back and slowly, with more relief than she could articulate, she lowered her cheek to rest on top of his head; pressing her eyes closed with the feel of him in her arms.

They disappeared into their own world for a moment, neither of them hearing talk of dinner and long conversations until Emma's voice rang out and Regina's heart stopped. "Hey kid, you hungry?"

"Yeah," He turned and smiled up at Regina, slowly slipping from her arms. She held on as long as she could, sliding her hands down his arms until the only thing left connecting them were her desperate fingertips clinging to his. "I'll see you later."

She could feel the burn of tears in her eyes as she watched them disappear from the shop. David didn't even offer her a passing glance but she was fairly certain he hadn't even known she was there. And who honestly would have, considering who she was? If he'd looked for her in a crowd of concerned dwarves, what would his wife think? No, she thought, it was better he didn't know. Or better that she believed he didn't see her. It already hurt enough to watch Henry walk away.

"Congratulations," Regina's breath hitched as Gold stepped into her line of sight. "You've reunited mother and son." Regina swallowed, feeling more tears coming to the surface, crawling over the tears already shed, filling her eyes and blurring her vision of the vicious Imp before her. "Maybe one day they'll even invite you to dinner. That is, if your scandal doesn't drive your son further away." He gestured to her belly and Regina instantly wrapped her coat around herself, fighting her tears as she stared at the empty doorway.

For a brief moment she had both of her children in her arms and she ached to have that feeling again.

* * *

David laughed as they all watched Emma devour her burger, moaning contentedly with each bite and declaring how wonderful it was to eat something she didn't have to chase first. Henry laughed heartily and it brought a smile to his own face as he turned to see Snow beaming beside him, watching their daughter and their grandson stealing fries from each other's plates.

"So what was it like in the Enchanted Forest?" Henry asked excitedly, but Emma hesitated with her burger halfway to her mouth and looked to her mother for help. Snow only shrugged, demurely popping a French fry in her mouth.

"Look, kid, it's been a long couple of weeks. Maybe we can talk about it another time."

Henry was about to open his mouth to protest, but knowing the dangers that lurked back home, David felt pity for his daughter and stepped in. "I'd like to know how you two got home; how'd you get through the portal?"

"Mr Gold tried to block it off." Henry chimed in.

"That's true," Emma nodded. "Cora was trying to get through as well, so naturally, Regina and Gold wanted to stop her – apparently Regina's relationship with her mother isn't stellar," She quirked her lip with a shrug and Snow's eyes widened in agreement.

"Absolutely not," She turned to David. "There's a long, detailed history there." She paused when she met his eyes. "That would be Regina's story to tell, if she ever so wishes."

"But mom saved them!" Henry declared, clearly proud and David couldn't help the smile that came to his face.

"She did?" He had to admit, he was surprised. He had been starting to see a different side to Regina, especially since she found out about the baby. He'd come to understand her better, through Henry, through Daniel and the child they now shared; but there was still so much of the Queen in her.

"Yeah," He grinned, climbing up on his knees in the booth, barely able to contain his excitement. "She wasn't going to, because she thought her Mom was going to come through the portal, but I told her about good winning over evil and you know, she's gotta get that more than most and she turned around and all that magic," Henry sighed in wonder, falling back on his haunches, clearly reliving the moment in his mind. "She took in all that magic," He met David's eye, who had suddenly become enraptured with the tale, but not for the reasons anyone might think.

David was worried. Regina was over four months pregnant; but a baby was fragile. There was no telling what could happen to her if she wasn't careful. And in that moment, he realized how much he wanted her to be careful.

"She took in all the magic that Mr Gold said no one could survive."

He could feel his ears turning red, burning with worry as the colour drained from his cheeks. "David, are you alright?" Emma questioned, putting her burger down slowly with worry etched on her face. Snow reached up to press a hand to his back, attempting to comfort him but the gesture only seemed to intensify his fear. Snow's touch only magnified his guilt.

"Regina absorbed Rumpelstiltskin's magic?" He choked on the words.

Snow and Emma shared a confused look.

"Actually, they stole fairy-dust from the mines and used it to create a barrier spell, that's what Mr Gold said. Apparently it's stronger than his magic."

"Stronger than..." David's voice trailed off as the information started to sink in. Blinking rapidly, he was barely aware of the looks he was starting to receive.

"David, you look pale." Snow touched her hand to his cheek but David reached up and grabbed it, gripping her hand tightly in his and wrapping his other hand around it.

"Is she alright?"

"What's with this sudden concern for Regina?" Emma muttered, flicking a French-fry across her plate with a certain level of disdain.

"Just tell me, Emma."

"She's fine," She huffed. "She was in Gold's shop when you woke up. Wow." She rolled her eyes, irritated with his insistence.

David quickly scrambled up from the table. "David, where are you going?" Snow tried to grab for him, pulling him back towards her but he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Snow, but I have to go make sure she's alright."

"She's fine," Emma almost whined. "Henry spoke to her, didn't you, kid?"

He nodded up to David. "It's true, she seemed fine when I hugged her, but," Henry furrowed his brow and David quickly crouched in front of him.

"What is it Henry? But what?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I guess she must have just been really cold or something because I hugged her real tight but it was like she was wearing all these coats. Maybe that kind of magic makes you cold." He looked at Emma and Snow for confirmation but they both just shrugged. David sighed, knowing full-well, the reason Regina seemed to be more padded than usual. He ruffled Henry's hair as he stood back up; assuring him with a nod that that must be what it was, even though he knew the truth.

He leaned over the booth, pressing his lips to Snow's quickly. "I'm sorry, Snow, but I have to do this."

"Why? What's she done all of a sudden, to incur this loyalty?"

His heart broke for the secret he couldn't voice. "She's been through a lot since you've been gone, I can't really explain it but she's been doing a lot better. We've had talks, I," He hesitated, seeing how Snow struggled to understand. "I'll explain it all in time, but right now, I just have to make sure that magic hasn't hurt her."

"David," Snow scrambled up from the booth, chasing him as he made his way to the door. All eyes in the diner were now on them. She grabbed his arm, spinning him back to meet her eyes. "we just got back from the Enchanted forest after months and twenty-eight years of not knowing who we are, and you want to run to Regina to make sure she hasn't caught the flu from her own evil." Tears appeared in her eyes and David couldn't help but feel the guilt well up inside him.

"I don't expect you to understand," He breathed, reaching out to touch her face. "I don't even know if I can explain it."

"Try." Her voice hardened and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"I can't right now, Snow. But I will, I promise." He kissed her quickly, dashing from the diner before she could utter another word, leaving her standing there in the middle of the room with tears in her eyes and confusion written across everyone's faces.

To be continued.


	6. Chapter 6

Threw a little joke in there for Swan Queen shippers. I hope it's taken in the good-natured way it's intended ;)

* * *

David caught up to Regina in the street; she was crossing from Gold's shop to her car with her arms wrapped tightly around herself and her body angled against the icy night breeze. She caught sight of him as she pulled her keys from her pocket; rolling her eyes as he stepped up to her.

"I thought you were going to get burgers with your family and my son." She remarked bitterly, reaching to put her key in the car door but David blocked her with his body.

"I needed to make sure you were alright."

Regina stopped attempting to push past him for a moment, looking up at him with irritation. "Clearly, as you can see, I'm fine," She stated, once again pushing at his arm to let her past. David didn't budge, holding his arm across the door until Regina huffed in annoyance and took a step back. He could see the remnants of tears on her cheeks, the faint traces she hadn't managed to wipe away before exiting Gold's shop.

He wasn't entirely sure how to define her, but he knew Regina certainly wasn't the woman who had enacted the curse; at least not anymore. She was no longer the woman he knew he was supposed to hate, deep down. She'd done terrible things, manipulated, mocked and tortured people he held dear, but he couldn't for the life of him stop himself from caring. She was still so angry with the world, but there was a spark in her.

"Regina, Henry told me about the magic you absorbed."

"I'll be fine," She gave him a half-hearted smile as though it was supposed to alleviate his fears but it only sought to heighten them as he took in her appearance.

He could see it now; in the lines of her face, her hair. He'd never admit it to her out loud, for fear that she'd dismember him – but she reminded him so much of Snow in that moment; it had been nearly thirty years, but he could still remember the glow Snow had throughout her pregnancy.

But the difference was, Regina was imbued with bitterness against the world, outshined only by the protective edge to her voice and the hand unconsciously pressed to her belly. Behind her quick wit and her strong, rigid spine, he could see that she was afraid.

Knowing Regina was pregnant gave him all the power to see how it had changed her. It was the glow in her cheeks – in spite of her tears – and the small round of her belly. Down at his side his fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and touch her; but he stopped himself. She'd likely break his fingers if he tried.

"What are you trying to prove, David?" She threw her arms in the air and he could see the faint lines of confusion between her brows. For a moment she looked defeated; for a moment – with her shoulders slumped and her tired, tired eyes – she didn't look like the Queen at all.

"Nothing," His voice shook and he didn't know what to say.

"David," She started but he cut her off, waving his hand at her.

"No, look," She rolled her eyes and he grabbed her elbows so that he could force her to look at him. "I don't know what this is between us, Regina but I know this is going to be hard," She gave him a look of utter disbelief as she shook her arms free and David swallowed. "Okay, it's going to be really hard, but I need you to know that this child matters to me."

She made a sound of disapproval as she attempted once again, to push him aside. "Regina," He grabbed her arms again, shaking her slightly to get her attention. "This is important; it's not another one of your plots. You can't do this alone." Neither of them noticed the small audience that had made its way out of Granny's Diner and trickled down the street toward them.

"Don't think you have to help me, David." She held her chin high. "I've been alone all my life," She hissed. "And if you think for one moment that _your_ help is what I need, you're sorely mistaken."

David's eyes widened as he caught sight of Snow standing in the middle of the road. Her arms were folded over her chest and though the shock was evident on her face, there were no tears in her eyes. Much to David's displeasure, though, Regina was yet to notice they were being watched. "I don't need you to care; I don't need any of you to care. I learned my lot in life a long time ago and that was never to rely on idiots and those self-ordained as good," She waved her hand angrily; and David could only assume the gesture was meant to encompass the whole town. "Look at Henry," She waved behind her in the general direction of the Diner, not knowing Henry stood beside Emma on the far side of the street. "Look at that boy and tell me I can't do this on my own. I've done it before, David and I'll do it again."

Regina reached to push him aside again and this time, he didn't stop her. He kept his eyes locked on Snow the entire time Regina angrily – with tears in her eyes – shoved her key in the door and swung it open wide between them. "This is my child, David; my body." She glared. "And I don't need you thinking you can protect either one of us."

"You're pregnant?"

Regina's head whipped around at the sound of Snow's voice. Her eyes went wide and her mouth slipped open ever so slightly, in shock. Snow's voice wasn't accusing though, it wasn't hurt. Regina let out a long breath as she caught a glimpse of each of their faces. They didn't know. They were too dim to work it out.

Slowly she schooled her features, letting her tears dry up on their own in the night air – refusing to wipe them away in front of these people. She straightened her back, raised her chin and let the Evil Queen's mask fall into place.

"You can blame your daughter, ultimately." Regina smirked and Snow's head whipped around to Emma with a look of shock on her face.

Emma's arms flew up in the air. "Hey, whoa," She scrunched up her brows. "No. That's so not physically possible," She gave her parents a look of disbelief quickly. "For many different reasons."

"I was referring to the curse, Miss Swan. Since the day you arrived it had started to weaken and it wasn't long before you broke it that I fell pregnant."

"How," Snow's voice caught and Regina chuckled coldly.

"Honestly dear, all these years and you still have to ask?"

David sighed deeply, his disappointed gaze meeting Regina's eye before she quickly looked away from him, ignoring that he was backing up towards his wife.

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh, I know dear. You meant to pry and demand to know when it happened and with whom. Two points of which are none of your business." She forced David's eye to meet her's again; she needed him to understand how much she'd changed and how much she hadn't. She wasn't going to destroy his wife and daughter in the middle of the street by telling them the truth. She was going to leave that for him.

They both knew the truth had to be told. David's misguided honour would eat him alive if he didn't find some way to help her and Regina's well-buried fears wanted that extra hand there to pull her up. David was offering it to her and though she was stubborn and hell-bent on making her own way, she knew fighting David was an up-hill battle.

"That's okay, Regina, we won't pry. But," She raised her chin in much the way Regina did – a small nuance neither woman had ever realized they shared. "David wants to help you and he seems to think you've changed. So we're here for you, if you need anything." She gathered the reluctant approval of the people around her before turning back to Regina. "You may have made us suffer over the years, Regina, but your child is innocent. If you need anything, just call."

That over-sweet sentimentality that accompanied her step-daughter practically oozed from her pores and Regina felt her hackles rise. She didn't need these people, she didn't want them. But then, through the crowd of dwarves, fairies and scantily-clad werewolves, poking his head around Emma's side, Regina caught Henry's eye. She felt her heart soften at the look he gave her, feeling her skin tingle at the small smile he offered and she suddenly knew that she didn't want these people, but she did want Henry. And she wanted to change.

She wanted to be worthy of him and worthy of the child growing inside her. She wanted to be better and if that meant accepting Snow's offer with grace then she would do it. She struggled to gather the words and it almost felt like bile crawling up her throat as she nodded her head and uttered the word. "Thanks."

Even though she meant it, the sentiment didn't reach her eyes. But how much could they honestly ask of her?

"Do you," Emma cleared her throat. "Do you want to come back inside for burgers?"

For a moment, Regina's mask slipped away and her heart felt raw. "I," She blinked. "No, I think I should get home, I need to rest."

"Sure, okay." Emma was quick to abandon the idea, but Regina clung to the notion that she'd even been asked at all. Henry dashed across the road, beaming up at her as she stood there, unconsciously rubbing circles on her belly. She could feel the entire atmosphere around her change.

"So I'm going to be a big brother, hey?"

Henry's words brought fresh tears to Regina's eyes and the audible sob that left her lips had Snow, David and Emma's heads suddenly turning back towards her as she wrapped her arms around Henry so tightly he almost squeaked.

"Yeah, Henry," She sighed. "You are."

To be continued.


	7. Chapter 7

"I need to talk to you," Regina spoke quietly, looking up at him through her lashes, scratching the top of Pongo's head as the dog nuzzled her leg.

"Sure, Regina," Archie stepped closer to her, hugging his coat tighter. "is here alright?"

"So I suppose you heard?" She didn't elaborate but Archie knew what she was referring to. He'd been there, after all. Invited to help celebrate Emma and Mary-Margaret's return, Archie had been in the street when they'd all stepped out to hear the confrontation between David and Regina. And Archie wondered if anyone else had read as much into that moment as he had.

Regina was a complicated woman; he'd known that for years. She was stoic and immovable, but she had a vulnerability to her that baffled him. Sometimes that vulnerability was so raw, he feared she'd tear in two; but she never did. It constantly surprised him, with each of the sessions they'd had together, that the more he learned about Regina's past, the more he realized why she was so strong.

She had no choice. Whilst he'd seen bitterness and vengeance in her eyes, he'd also seen fear.

"I did hear, Regina." He nodded. "And whilst normally I'd assume congratulations are in order, I can only imagine the timing is not ideal?"

"Nothing about it is ideal." She hissed and Archie sighed. He'd hoped Regina wouldn't regress but sometimes old habits were hard to kick. And Regina's worst habit was her almost venomous defensiveness.

"David's the father, isn't he?"

Regina narrowed her eyes angrily at the question, but it was answered surely enough in her silence that Archie found himself looking down at her with a certain level of pity. This woman had cursed them all, she'd banished them to a fate worse than death; but for all the pain she'd suffered, he hated the thought of seeing her only dig herself in deeper.

"You don't know that." She snapped.

Archie ignored her denial. "I do, Regina."

"If you so much as utter a word..." She let the words trail off and Archie held his chin high. He and Regina had come a long way since she'd first stepped foot in his office, wanting help with staying away from magic. But even though Archie had come to respect – even care for – Regina, there was still that nagging part of him that feared her.

"I won't, I promise."

"You'll regret it, Bug."

Archie watched her as she walked away down the dock. He offered Ruby a faint smile as the younger woman jogged past, eyeing Regina as she left. "You okay?" Ruby asked and Archie nodded, keeping one eye on Regina as the woman attempted to climb into her car with as much grace as possible; he could only imagine what it was going to be like for her in that cramped Mercedes in a few months.

"Yeah, fine, Ruby."

"That looked pretty heated."

"We're fine, Ruby," He met her eyes finally and smiled. "I promise."

* * *

"She really got to you, huh?" David looked up sharply, seeing a steaming mug of hot chocolate hovering in front of his face. It took him a moment to realize Snow was dangling it in front of him, waiting for the question to sink in.

"What do you mean?"

"Regina," She sighed, lowering herself to sit beside him on the sofa as he took the mug. Emma and Henry had already gone to bed and it didn't really surprise David that Snow would wait until now to bring the subject back up. "You two are awfully close." She tried to smirk, but he could see the forced mirth was a struggle for her.

"She's been through a lot." He took a sip of the warm chocolate. "And I've learned a lot about her."

Snow tucked her feet up on the sofa, burying her toes underneath his thigh as she hugged her mug to her chest and studied the side of his face carefully. David was there with her, but he was also off in his own little world. The whole day he'd been distracted, even though she'd seen in his eyes the moment he woke up, that he was happy to have her back.

"David, she's our enemy." Her voice sounded so defeated he almost lost his resolve.

"She was, Snow," He sighed. "But for twenty-eight years she was also just Regina; she was a friend to me." Snow opened her mouth to protest but David held his hand up, knowing that if he didn't get it all out, he never would. "I know that it's hard for you to understand; your relationship with Regina is different to mine, it always will be. But I've seen a side to her that I can't ignore, and I've made promises I have to keep."

"But why this unflinching loyalty? Why argue with her out in the street? She's right David, it's her child. What does it matter to you, to us?" She searched his eyes.

"It's not that simple." He turned away.

"But it can be, David." Snow reached for his arm; forcing him to turn his head so that she could meet his eyes. She studied his face closely, seeing something there that scared her. She took a deep breath, bracing herself to ask the questions she didn't want to ask. "You care about her, don't you?" David turned to her quickly and she caught the faint glimmer of shame in his eyes before he concealed it. But for that one brief instant, she felt her heart shatter. "Oh my god, you do."

Snow sat up quickly, setting her mug on the table and attempting to take deep breaths. "Snow, I can explain..." He reached for her hand, but Snow pulled it away.

She watched him, carefully, out of the corner of her eye and David could practically see the pieces falling into place. This wasn't how he'd wanted her to find out. He was supposed to be brave and charming; fearless. But he was too afraid to the look in her eyes, to bring himself to say it.

Snow had always been the stronger one and he hated that she had to be the one to venture there. "This isn't about the baby..." She hesitated, not entirely sure if she wanted to know. "...is it?"

"Snow,"

She shot up from the sofa – effectively cutting David off – holding her hand over her mouth as she crossed the room in shock. She paced back and forth, hot tears springing to her eyes as she internally berated herself.

"David," Snow's tone was almost a warning, her eyes set on him resolutely. "Tell me that child isn't yours."

"Snow,"

"Tell me!" She shouted, practically shaking with the fear of it. David flinched at the sound, pressing his eyes closed for a moment and hoping that Emma and Henry hadn't been woken by the sound. He heard a rustle in the next room and felt his heart sink, but not another sound was heard for the long, silent stretch after Snow's shout; until she finally uttered: "Please."

David let his shoulders slump, as though the weight of the secret had finally become too much. They'd wanted to keep it a secret as long as they could; make sure no one was going to assume the worst of himself or Regina, before letting the word out. Typical, he thought, he'd barely lasted a day before the guilt had consumed him.

"David," His prolonged silence was causing Snow's voice to shake as she pressed him for any kind of response.

He lowered his head into his hands, running his fingers through his hair as he let out a long sigh and an answer so quiet, but clear enough to break Snow's heart in two. "I can't."

"No," She rasped and David raised his head quickly.

"Snow, I can explain," He stood, reaching for her but she backed away. "It was before the curse broke."

"And you think that makes it okay?"

"No. No, Snow, it doesn't," He reached out again, desperately, but she stepped away again, looking down at his outstretched hand with disgust. "But I thought maybe it would make it easier for you to understand."

Snow's eyes were cast down to the ground, her brain churning over what she'd just learned. He startled a little, when her head shot up and her eyes went wide. "That's why it took so long."

"What?"

"The curse, true love's kiss." David furrowed his brow in confusion. "It took me three tries to get you to wake up." David stared at her, unaware of what to make of it. "She's why; she got to you."

"I don't love her."

"Then she cursed you."

"True love is stronger than Regina's magic, you know that." He sighed. "And it's not her fault."

"You're going to defend her?" She sputtered, incredulously.

"It's not her fault, Snow. She didn't seduce me. I was confused and I'd been rejected, by you. I needed to feel something and Regina was there. I told you, Snow, she was my friend."

"So you go and sleep with her." She spat.

"You slept with Whale." David bit back, venomously. He knew immediately that it was the wrong approach to take, but placing the blame solely on Regina's shoulders, was something that angered him more than he'd realized. She'd worked so hard to be better.

"You were _married_ to Kathryn."

David pulled in a deep breath, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair in irritation. "We shouldn't do this."

Snow's shoulders slumped. "Why not, David? Why shouldn't we hold ourselves accountable for what we did in that life? Yeah, I slept with Whale and you slept with Regina. But you're about to have a _child_ with her. How are we not accountable?"

"Because it wasn't us. We wouldn't have made the same choices."

"How do you know?"

"Because I love you, I don't love Regina. But that doesn't mean I can't care for her." He reached out for her hands and finally, Snow let him take them into his own. "And you can't tell me a part of you doesn't still love her, because I know you wish she'd go back to being the woman who saved you. I see it in your eyes, every time you look at her."

"She's pregnant with my husband's child."

"Forget that; take me out of the equation and tell me you haven't always cared for her. Tell me you haven't always wished she'd change."

"That doesn't mean she will, David; or that she even can."

"No," He smiled gently. "No it doesn't." David ran his thumbs over the backs of her hands. "But that doesn't mean she's not finally trying."

"How do you know it won't just be like last time?"

"Back home she had nothing. Now she's fighting for Henry and she's fighting to be better for this baby. I know you're angry, Snow, and you have every right to be. But if this child helps Regina become the woman she used to be, then I can't wish it didn't happen." Snow opened her mouth to protest, but David shushed her gently. "I'm sorry, Snow. I love you, but this could save her life."

"And what about our lives, David?"

"Our love was strong enough to break the sleeping curse," He half-smiled in hope.

"It almost wasn't." She shook her head forlornly.

"But it did."

"I'm afraid of this, David. What if your love is spreading too thin? It took me three tries to wake you up, but that magic is absolute," The fear in her eyes sent a shiver down David's spine. "You may love me truly. But you also love Emma now and Henry, and clearly a part of you loves this baby and I don't know," She shrugged, tears welling in her eyes. "Maybe with Regina you -"

David narrowed his eyes at the thought and Snow stopped herself with a sigh. "David, all I'm saying is; what if next time, my love isn't enough?"

David pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her against him. "Your love will always be enough, Snow. Just because I love my children, doesn't mean I'll ever stop loving you."

"Children? Plural?" Both of them startled at the sound of Emma's voice, turning their heads to see her standing in the middle of the kitchen in a baggy grey sweater and a pair of weathered yoga-pants. Her brow was deeply furrowed.

"David," Snow carefully extricated herself from his arms, stepping away from him slowly. "I believe that you love me, I do." His expression became worried as she stepped further away. "But I think you should sleep out here."

Just when David had thought they were coming to an understanding the hurt returned to her eyes. "Snow," He tried to reason but her lips pressed into a thin line.

"You can stay and sleep on the couch or you can leave, those are your only options; at least for tonight."

Defeated, he slowly nodded his head and watched with a pained expression as she left the room.

"What the hell did I miss?" Emma looked shocked and somewhat terrified; but mostly she was angry. "What did you do?"

"Put my marriage to the ultimate test."

Emma stared, dumbstruck. "No," She drew the word out in surprise. "No way, that kid's yours?"

David looked up at her. "It's a long story."

"Well I hope you told Mary-Margaret all of it."

"Yeah, I think so." David sank back into the sofa, dropping his chin to his chest forlornly. Emma nodded, studying him carefully.

"So we're giving Regina the benefit on this one, are we?"

"It's not her fault." David met her eye.

"Well it's at least half her fault." She clarified and David huffed, studying his toes intently.

To Be Continued.


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure they can't see us?" Hook questioned, shrinking away from the roof's edge every time someone walked a little too close to the building. Cora just chuckled, shaking her head at the Pirate's clear lack of understanding about magic.

"Those little ants don't know a thing." She turned her head to look up at him, smirking as she followed his line of sight to where her daughter stood, holding herself against the townspeople. She'd come in search of finding her daughter broken but she never thought she'd find her so close she'd shed a tear before these people that she loathed.

She was different somehow, Cora could see. Her hair was shorter and Cora found her clothes strange – though not as shocking since she'd encountered Emma and Snow in the Enchanted Forest. She and Hook were too far away to hear what was said as the Charming Prince confronted her daughter in the street, but from the looks of things, Cora could see that the argument was heated.

There was a spark between them, something Cora took note of to play with later.

She could see tears in her daughter's eyes though she was proud to watch her straighten herself up and guard her features when that insipid Snow White made her presence known to them. She only wished she could hear what was being said, but she was almost certain that if she used magic to hear them, Regina would sense it. She could hear their voices, but struggled to make out the words.

The conversation between Regina and the Prince made her curious. She wanted to know exactly what was going on; because clearly it was something her daughter didn't want to share with the rest of the town. What was curious to her was why this man her daughter claimed to hate could confront her like that. She wondered why he didn't fear that she'd break him down into dust.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Hook watching Regina almost as intently as she was herself and for a moment she felt her blood boil. Hook had turned against her daughter before, but the reluctance in him had churned her stomach; watching him watch her now, only infuriated her more; especially because she knew that his alliance with her was merely a means to an end. He almost looked contrite, looking down at Regina with an expression that read of a man cradling a guilt he couldn't shake.

She knew her daughter was beautiful, she'd spent years attempting to force Regina to use that to her advantage, but the girl had never seen it as the useful tool that it was. With the look in Hook's eyes, though, Cora was starting to wonder if Regina had mastered the art after all.

Hook's lip twitched up when Regina managed to shove Charming out of the way and Cora wanted to swipe that look clean off his face. The last thing she needed was Hook falling for her daughter when she needed him to do a job.

She was about to drag him from the roof when she caught sight of the small boy pushing himself through the crowd. Snow and her little hoard of do-gooders were turning back towards the building they'd all emerged from but the boy stepped out onto the road. Curiously, Cora watched him jog his way up to Regina.

From the way her daughter looked down at the boy, Cora could only assume this was Henry. She moved closer to the edge of the roof, holding onto the gutter as she attempted to lean in, trying to hear them. She furrowed her brow when Henry wrapped his arms around Regina and anything they might have said was muffled in their coats.

Cora growled under her breath and rolled her eyes when she heard Hook's chuckle. "What's the matter Cora? Can't you hear your daughter's secrets?" He mocked. Cora slowly stood, turning to meet him with a murderous look.

"Be careful, Hook."

"Now now, Cora, be nice." He smirked and she had to mentally restrain herself from ripping his heart out. She could still use him and whilst he was still under her employ, she couldn't run the risk of Regina sensing she had control of his heart. She had things to do and needed Hook to look like he did them willingly.

"I'm going to find out all I need to know, just you watch." Cora winked, striding out over the rooftop, leaving Hook where he stood. He watched her go for a moment, wondering why it was that he let her pull him along. He told himself that it was for revenge; because she could get to Rumpelstiltskin. But as he watched the woman on the street down below, chatting quietly with her son, he wondered if his motives hadn't changed over the years.

He was about to follow Cora when something caught his eye and he leaned in, watching the pair intently. His lips spread into a smile as he watched the boy press his small hands to his mother's stomach and hear his bright chuckle as Regina beamed and ran her fingers through his hair fondly.

Hook grinned, glancing over his shoulder, seeing Cora making her way down the ladder. For once, there was something he knew that she didn't and as he watched Regina climb into what looked like a vehicle – powered by what, he didn't know – he was going to keep the information close to his chest. He could only imagine what Cora would do to her daughter if she knew.

* * *

Regina curled her feet up on the sofa, wrapping a thick blanket around her shoulders as she reclined, staring at the fire flickering. She wondered what she was going to do. She'd argued that she could do it alone, but she knew that the first time had been hard. She knew that this was going to be even harder because there was no way David was going to step back from this.

He was going to fight to be in the child's life. He was going to be infuriatingly supportive and she was going to accept it, because as much as she hated to be tied down to any of those insipid, bleeding hearts, she'd already come to love the small being inside her. There was little in any land she'd been truly able to call her own; not even Henry. But this child, this child was her's and no sword-wielding saviour was going to steal her away; maybe Henry might even decide she wasn't so bad.

Leaning back into the cushions, Regina smiled slightly as she ran her fingertips over her belly. She was getting bigger by the day and she knew, soon enough, she wasn't even going to be able to see her toes. She'd missed this part about having Henry. The spontaneity of Henry had been exciting. One day she wasn't a mother and the next day she was. But she had to admit that watching her baby grow, feeling her move and turn, thrilled her beyond expression.

She didn't have the urge to use her magic. She didn't feel its overwhelming pull; all she felt was the faint flutters of her baby moving and for the first time in a long time, she felt like the hole inside of her was filling.

Henry had been trapped inside that hole alone for so long, holding a torch to keep the light in her from going out; but as much difficulty as having a child with Prince-god damned-Charming, was going to be, she was glad of it. It meant that Henry would no longer be alone, keeping her from turning to the darkness. Her resolve would be stronger and her will, resolute. Maybe this time she'd get it right and she hoped that if this child could love her and look at her without the mistrust Henry carried on his shoulders, perhaps he'd learn that she truly loved him too.

* * *

Ruby dragged her feet as she made her way down to the road to grab the sign. It had been a long day, full of revelations and suspicious whispers, complicated coffee orders and a million and one burgers with the lot as the townspeople fussed and whispered over their coffee mugs. The town was abuzz with speculation; she'd even heard some of the dwarves placing bets on who the father of Regina's child was. She hesitated to guess. She couldn't imagine anyone in the town having the true desire to get that close to Regina. Granted, she could see the woman was beautiful, but she was also poisonous and vicious.

That beauty masked a deeper-set cruelty and Ruby couldn't imagine anyone she knew well, wanting to embrace that woman. And knowing Regina as she did, she couldn't imagine her pride allowing it. It had to be someone none of them knew, she was sure of it.

She shook her head as she reached for the sign, surprising herself that she was actually thinking about it.

She paused suddenly, her eyes widening as she saw Regina walking up the street. The woman's stride was as sure as her derisive tongue as she stepped up to the door of Archie's office. Ruby furrowed her brows, watching her as she glanced left, then right, then disappeared inside. She glanced at her watch, setting the sign on top of her boot as she frowned. It was a bit late for a therapy session.

Shrugging her shoulders, Ruby hoisted the sign back up and made her way inside; ignoring the nagging dread in her gut.

To Be Continued.


	9. Chapter 9

"I don't think she did it." David stated with his arms crossed over his chest, shoulders hunched and eyes focused on the woman sitting in the interrogation room. Snow narrowed her eyes at him, watching the way his eyes were set on Regina; it unnerved her; it made her thankful for the tears she'd already shed over Archie so that she could pretend the look in his eyes didn't terrify her.

Emma looked between her parents and could feel the palpable tension in the room, not only over Archie's death and Regina's supposed involvement, but also from the way Snow arched her brow each time Regina's absent hand stroked over her rounded belly. She honestly hadn't thought the three of them were going to be in the same building so quickly after the news and she was somewhat glad of the glass wall between Regina and her mother. Snow White wasn't the kind of woman to pick a fight, but backed into a corner – when Regina's defensive, lightening fast tongue came into play – there was no saying what they'd do or say to each other.

The three stood side-by-side in the dark observation room, each internally scrutinizing their thoughts on the woman before them. She sat stoic and silent, her expression entirely impassive except for the few times the corner of her mouth twitched upward involuntarily as her hand stilled. Gone were her heavy coats and layers of clothing, shielding her baby's existence from their eyes. Now her fitted black dress and tailored Red jacket accentuated her growing condition. It made it all the more real to them all.

The image made David twitch anxiously. He wasn't sure whether the feeling was telling him to reach out and touch her or run; it frightened him.

The gentleness of her movements caused Snow's brow to furrow; she remembered this side of Regina; this gentle, motherly side that she'd believed long dead. Ever since her stayed execution, Snow had stopped believing that Regina could really change. In her mind, all of this had to be a trick; it had to be, she couldn't fathom it any other way. And watching David's softened expression whilst watching Regina idly caressing her belly made her want to simultaneously cry and scream. Believing in anything other than a trick would mean believing the man she loved could stop loving her back; maybe not completely, but even a little tore her heart in two.

She had to silently berate the petulant child inside of her that screamed how unfair it was. It was the same child that had sent Daniel to his death and wished a life on Regina that she couldn't understand – that selfish, spoiled little girl who'd known nothing of life but a doting father and gowns of the finest fabric in all the land. A part of her knew she should have listened to Regina all those years ago, but she'd been a child suffering the illusion that all mothers were equal.

She told herself she'd never make the same mistake again.

"How can you say that, David?" Snow almost shrieked, the first time since she'd offered him the choice of couch or sidewalk the night before, that she'd uttered a word to him. He'd tried earlier that morning, but Archie's death had been a shock to them all and whatever ground they'd made the night before – with Snow actually believing he still loved her – was lost when Regina was accused of the crime and David's expression had crumbled before her.

He hadn't lied, not to her. But Snow started to wonder if he was lying to himself.

"She doesn't have motive." He shrugged, noting how his wife did everything she could to avoid his eyes. The guilt was almost overwhelming; but somehow watching Regina sitting in the centre of the room before them, staring straight ahead as though she could see them through the two-way mirror with worry and grief written across her face, he felt his heart lurch.

His opinion of her was changing rapidly and it frightened him.

Her eyes were glistening with tears for Archie. Her hands gripped her stomach protectively and she licked her lips as though she feared what was coming. "I think David's right," Emma spoke slowly, expecting her mother's loud shriek of disapproval at any moment; when it didn't come and Snow's face remained slack-jawed and wide-eyed, Emma pushed on. "The old Regina would have turned this building to ashes by now, you know that. I think that's a woman that truly wants to change; she just wants everyone else to see it."

"You can't be serious, Emma, Ruby saw her heading into Archie's office. They argued in the street. How is that not motive?"

"We're arguing now, does that make us murderers?"

"We can't ignore who she is, Emma. I know her, you don't," She made a face over her shoulder at David, narrowing her eyes and gritting her teeth as she added. "And right now, David's biased."

"Snow," He started, but she shrugged him off, turning back to watch Regina tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the table-top. He was somewhat glad of her cold shoulder, just for an instant; because it saved him admitting that he had no excuse or rebuff for the remark. Biased or no, he felt for Regina – and those feelings were growing stronger by the minute – against his better judgement and understanding he found himself believing her.

"Maybe that's the point," Emma stated, forcing a break in the ice between her parents who both turned to her. "If David's biased, so are you," She held her hand up to prevent Snow's retort. "You said it yourself, you have a long history. And you're right, I don't know Regina like you do. I don't know her past. And that means I can look at this with fresher eyes." Snow reluctantly conceded the point, hugging herself tighter and turning her eyes down to the ground. Emma smiled apologetically at her mother. "I'm sorry, but she clearly didn't know Archie was dead. We have to let her go."

"So that's it? We just let her walk free knowing what she's capable of?"

Emma sighed. "She may be capable of a lot of things, but I don't believe she did this." She gripped Snow's forearm, giving it a light squeeze. "We let her go and we find the truth."

Reluctantly Snow nodded. David barely heard the exchange, too busy watching Regina intently as she wiped a tear from her cheek. She was fighting to hold back tears and he knew she'd been trying so hard to change. There was a nagging voice in the back of his mind that wanted to believe she had done it, because everything they knew about her from their home land was telling him she was the only one that knew how. But her eyes were blood-shot and she swallowed, straightening in her seat and stretching out her spine, fighting the emotion growing inside her. Archie had meant more to her than they realized and he knew, watching her hold her hand over her belly and whisper something none of them could hear; that she couldn't have done it.

To Be Continued.


	10. Chapter 10

Hook and Cora admired their handiwork. Cora was exceptionally proud of the fact that she'd managed to convince those dim-witted townsfolk that her daughter was behind the Bug's murder.

Regina would be adequately broken now. Her will would be stretched wafer thin, her resolve would be tarnished and without a doubt; she'd make her way back into her daughter's life with far less resistance than she'd feared when the prospect of a land without magic, had been on the cards.

"What do you expect to get out of him?" Hook questioned, leaning over the opening in the cabin compartment, peering at the man tied up in the bowels of his ship. He didn't question how Cora had gotten the man there or how she'd convinced the people of the town that this man was dead – he hadn't really cared who she'd killed instead, when he'd asked - the moment they'd discovered Magic alive and well in Storybrooke, he'd known his chances of getting away from her unscathed were nil; he was going to make the most of the alliance before committing himself to a rivalry he wasn't ready to face.

Better to turn on Cora when he knew he had a solid ally. There was absolutely no sense in burning that bridge if he didn't have his foot in another boat. Suicide wasn't his forte.

"He's going to tell us all about the people of Storybrooke," Cora crooned, reaching down to pull the cloth gag from Archie's mouth. "Starting with my daughter."

"I don't know anything." Archie spat.

"Oh I think you do," Cora's smile made both men nervous, Archie more obviously than Hook. "Because I have this; what did you call it? _File_? Here with Regina's name on it." She smirked. "Safe to assume it's full of her darkest secrets, no?"

"Her secrets aren't so dark." Archie whispered forlornly and Cora's head tilted to the side.

"Ooh," She mocked. "Have you come to care about her, Cricket?"

"I don't want you to hurt her, if that's what you mean."

"I'm not going to hurt her; I'm going to help her."

Hook watched Cora out of the corner of his eye. He knew she wasn't being entirely truthful. He wasn't the most honest man, it went with being a pirate and he wasn't the kind to throw stones from the inside of glass-houses; but the way Cora seemed to want to reel her daughter in and play her like some sort of puppet, unnerved him.

He was all for getting what he needed from people, but using your own child the way Cora intended too, scratched at Hook's shaky morality.

Mother of the year, indeed.

"If you were really here to help her, you wouldn't be trying to undermine her."

Hook had to give the woman some credit; she was incredibly patient. She didn't seem to care how long it took her to make her way to Storybrooke or what kind of means or obstacles were standing in her way. He wished for a moment that he had her patience; that all this manipulating and conspiring wasn't making him itchy in his boots.

The Crocodile was less than a mile away and if Hook had his way, he'd have him skinned by tea-time. He was frustrated and he had the nagging feeling that Cora – that diabolical, bloody woman – was entirely aware of that fact.

She didn't care and he didn't envy Regina.

"I merely want to understand her life here, before I show myself to her. I want to see what her life has been like in this world. Please, Cricket, my daughter needs me."

Archie rolled his eyes, tugging at his bonds as though – for the twelfth time - they'd actually give way; they didn't. "She doesn't need you," Archie ground through his teeth. "I think the last thing Regina needs right now, is another selfish, controlling presence in her life." He sighed. "That woman has been through enough. Can't you just let her see if she can do this alone?"

"She doesn't want to be alone, not now." Hook had been admiring Cora's patience, but he could see that it was wearing thin. "This is exactly the kind of time a girl needs her mother."

"She raised Henry without you," Archie narrowed his eyes at her. "...and all the better for him; she can raise this child without you as well."

Cora stood up straight, eyes wide. "My daughter's," She breathed out with a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "...pregnant?"

Hook studied her face, then the Cricket, then Cora again. "Nice one, Cricket, she didn't know about that."

Cora spun on the pirate, angrily. "You _did_?"

He shrugged his shoulders, expressing the air of a man entirely unruffled by the woman's bubbling anger and the fear that she could, literally, squash him like a bug. "I had an inkling."

Archie studied the pair of them carefully. Cora's expression had changed to one of a barely contained rage, whilst Hook seemed almost genuinely disappointed that Regina's secret was suddenly so clear between them all. He wanted to kick himself for telling her; feeling as stupid as he'd ever felt for assuming Cora was already aware. He figured that's what she'd meant by Regina needing her. He was a fool and he only hoped Regina could find a way to escape this woman's viperous grasp and then somehow find it in herself to forgive him.

She'd been working so hard and he knew that the strength was inside her. He also knew that Cora's power over Regina was strong and she was going to need far more than her own will to protect herself.

It was going to take the whole town to stop her and he needed to convince them that standing up with Regina was the only thing that would save them all.

* * *

David breathed heavily. He couldn't believe what they'd just seen. He stumbled out of Gold's shop, gasping for air. He'd felt Snow's eyes at his back and he'd seen the way she'd turned her eyes away from the Dreamcatcher, terrified of what they'd just seen. He hadn't been entirely sure if it was just the image of Archie's death that had shaken her or the image of Regina's evil first hand.

He knew there was a part of her that still looked to Regina as her mother, and that part of her was the reason everything Regina did to anyone was so personal to her. She felt as though somehow, it was her fault. Not just that Regina blamed her but that she feared Regina was right to do so.

"It can't be true." He muttered to himself, pacing back and forth outside the shop, scrubbing his fingers through his hair. He racked his brain for a reason the image could be false. He tried to think of ways Gold could have manipulated it, even though it was Emma that ultimately made it work.

Maybe he'd spelled it to show them what they'd most feared.

They all had their own reasons for wanting Regina to be innocent. Emma's was Henry, His was their baby and Snow's...he sighed, watching his wife through the window as she stared at her toes; Snow's reason was how much she could never admit that she still loved Regina. He knew it and he understood it. He'd seen it every time Regina had broken her heart – he'd seen that hope and that pain. She never stopped wanting Regina to be the woman that had saved her from the horse.

David took in a deep breath; he knew that Regina couldn't be that woman again, but she'd been working so hard to be something so very close.

He wasn't going to let them take that away from her. He may have seen it with his own eyes, but something deep inside of him – something he couldn't place or name – was telling him not to believe it.

Maybe Snow was right and he was biased, he wanted to say it was the love he held for their child – because even though he tried to deny that he cared for Regina, or feared to extend that care to love – but he knew it wasn't just that. He knew there was something more there; something he knew he wasn't strong enough to cast away.

He caught Snow's eye through the window and the guilt ate at him until tears stung his eyes – he'd never wanted this. He had to tear his eyes away, looking down at his shoes, knowing that the choices he made over the next few hours were going to change their lives forever.

He didn't want to hurt Snow, but if it was a choice between breaking a heart and saving a life – as painful as it was – he knew what had to be done.

To Be Continued.


	11. Chapter 11

The amount of editing I was doing to this chapter was getting ridiculous (it was written before chapter 10, but not entirely realized) I feel that I could have kept editing it if I didn't force myself to post it. So I hope you guys still like it. Stole a portion of dialogue from 'The Cricket Game' because it was necessary.

Please leave some feedback, I'd love to hear if I'm going alright with this.

* * *

"Regina!" David boomed, dashing through her front door. She startled, making her way out of the kitchen with surprise written across her face as the door slammed shut behind him. He reached for her, his eyes frantic as he leaped up the steps in one bound and grasped her arms. "You have to run, you have to get out of here."

"What? Why?" She stumbled back, trying to pull her arms free but David wouldn't allow it.

"We saw you do it, Regina. Snow and Emma, they're coming for you."

"Did what? David," Regina's brows knitted together. "If this is about Archie..." She trailed off, shaking her head as a loud knock came to her door. She moved to release herself from his hold, attempting to head for the door, but he stopped her, pulling her back towards him and forcing her to meet his eyes.

"I don't want to know why you did it, Regina, but you need to run." He pleaded with her and Regina's expression only became more perplexed. Anger started to bubble up inside of her. She thought that she'd managed to convince him she was trying to change. She'd been trying so hard, she wasn't using magic, she wasn't hurting anyone. She didn't want to hurt anyone and he didn't believe her. The thought of it rattled her more than she'd expected.

"You don't believe me." She breathed, feeling his fingers digging into her arms; savoring that connection even though it was starting to hurt.

"I was there, in Gold's shop. We saw it through Pongo's memories," He let out a shuddering breath as he emphasized. "I _saw_ it." A tear came to Regina's eye. She tried to pull away as a small whimper escaped her but David held her tighter. "I don't care, Regina; every part of me is telling me to help them lock you up but I can't." She looked up at him, shocked at the words leaving his lips. "I can't do that, you have to run."

"I can't just run, David,"

He cut her off. "Regina, this isn't just about the baby. I wish it were, for Snow's sake, but it's not." He moved in closer to her, ignoring the incessant knocking on the door and Emma's voice shouting for Regina. He moved closer until he could feel her rounded belly against his abdomen and lowered his forehead to rest against hers. Regina stared up at him in confusion; her body tensed and her bottom lip sucked in between her teeth – the closeness between them felt so strange but instead of his tight grip scaring her, she felt safe. "I can't explain what I feel, Regina. I can't name it. But when we walked out of Gold's shop, I knew I had to warn you."

"Even though you think I murdered him."

"I saw," He breathed, sliding his hands down her arms until he could grip her fingers. "But I don't want to believe it." His lips curved in a tentative smile as he realized what he'd said. He didn't want to believe it. He'd seen it with his own eyes but his heart was telling him it was wrong. She was innocent, she had to be.

He moved his hands to her belly, pressing their hands together over the fabric of her blouse. She'd changed so much, he had to believe it wasn't a lie; for the sake of his baby he needed her change to be real – someone had to be setting her up; but yet he couldn't imagine who.

"Then don't." She gripped his hands desperately, betraying her own pride as she begged him. "I didn't do this, David. I didn't, I wouldn't..." She let out a long sigh, pressing her eyes closed as she rolled her forehead against his. "Not Archie, he was the only one that wanted to help me."

The knocking came once again, this time followed by the door knob shaking violently. They were trying to get in. Regina's eyes widened and David watched her watch the door carefully. He could see her face change. The tears in her eyes dried up and her lips straightened out. The mask of the Evil Queen slipped into place and she gently removed her hands from his.

"Regina," He warned, reaching for her again but she held her hand up, silencing and stalling him with just a look.

She stepped down toward the door, taking a deep breath before opening it. Emma and Snow stood on the outside; Snow had her arms crossed over her chest and Emma's fist was raised above her head, ready to knock again had Regina not answered.

"Miss Swan." She greeted without emotion, letting the door fall open further.

"I saw you do it. I saw you choke the life out of Archie."

"David," Snow gasped as David stepped down to the doorway, appearing behind Regina.

"I can explain," He started, but Regina ignored them both, cutting him off as she addressed Emma – she wasn't yet ready to acknowledge what exactly it meant for him to be standing on her side of the metaphorical line.

"How is that even possible?"

"Gold," David said quietly at her shoulder. "A dreamcatcher." Emma and Snow watched the exchange silently as Regina's head tilted to the side, listening closely to him with a nod of her head before she turned back to meet Emma's eyes.

"You're going to trust Gold when he's probably the one behind this?"

"We didn't trust him," Snow's eyes flickered between Regina and David and she swallowed when she saw his hand slip from the woman's elbow as though her eyes had scolded him; a part of her wished they had. "That's why Emma used magic instead." Her voice faltered, proud of her daughter but heartbroken at the sight of her husband's hand on her enemy in any way other than to force repentance.

"You can use magic?" Regina took an imperceptible step toward Emma with a look of surprise and wonder on her face. "The savior, of course; well I can only assume he warned you then."

"Warned me about what?"

"That magic always comes with a price."

"Well that's a price we're both going to have to pay." Emma stated and David noticed Emma's nervous glance to her right as Regina questioned her. He turned to see what she could be looking for, realizing there was a very likely chance that Snow and Emma hadn't come alone. They feared Regina – and rightly so – and they were intelligent women. The odds of them confronting Regina without some sort of magical defense, was laughable.

He scanned the trees and hedges with his eyes, searching for the Blue Fairy.

"How's that?" Regina's worried tone of voice drew his attention back.

"Henry." Emma's face fell. "He believed in you," David could feel Regina's shoulder tense where his chest pressed against her back but as Snow's devastated eyes caught his movements again, he stopped himself from touching Regina; instead he flexed his knuckles by her side before stashing his hand in his pocket. "His heart's gonna break. That's both our prices."

"No," Regina gasped, tears springing to her eyes. "I will not let you poison Henry against me." Emma turned to walk away, stepping down off the front porch and heading for the gate. David tried to grasp Regina but she was away from him faster than he could think.

Snow staggered back as Regina pushed past her and David reached out for his wife, steadying her before she shoved his hands away. "Don't," She ground out before their attention was drawn back to Regina, chasing Emma down the path.

"I want to see him," Her voice raised to a strangled, angry cry. "He deserves to hear my side of the story, he's my son!"

David opened his mouth; unsure of what he was going to say but certain it was in defense of them both. No matter what Regina had done, she'd never hurt Henry and Emma knew that; they all did. But before he could speak, Emma whirled on them violently. "No he's not he's mine! And after this you're not getting anywhere near him! Do it!" Emma shouted and Regina's eyes turned to her left where the Blue fairy appeared from behind a thick maple.

There was magic burning in her hand and as she launched it at Regina, David's knee-jerk reaction was to throw himself in front of her. Snow screamed his name but all David saw was the ball of light flying through the air as if in slow motion. Regina pulled at his jacket, knocking him back out of the way.

"NO!" He screamed, but was silenced by Regina catching the ball of magic in her hand.

They all stared dumbly at her as she pressed the magic between her palms, turning to Snow with her nose scrunched in disgust. "My child is innocent, those were your words." Emma and David and Blue watched with baited breath as Regina's tear-filled eyes bore into her once-step-daughter. "You said my child was innocent and now you threaten her life with fairy-dust."

"Regina," Snow gasped and jumped back when Regina tossed the spent magic to her feet and turned back to Emma with anger burning in her eyes; magic crackled in her hands but it didn't materialize as she took a step towards the blonde.

"You will _not_ keep my son from _me_!" She threw her arms out towards Emma, throwing her three feet off the ground and ten feet down the path. Snow dashed to her daughter, awkwardly helping her from the ground as Regina stomped down the path towards them.

David's heart nearly beat out of his throat at the sight of them ready to rip each other apart. "Regina, stop this, please." He called out to her, taking a step down the path but Blue held him back as Regina glared over her shoulder. In that instant, the Regina he'd come to know, was gone.

She turned back to Emma; her eyes ablaze with menace. "So much for fairy dust," She hissed, ignoring the way her stomach churned at her own words – she knew she had to stop but she couldn't. She couldn't let them take Henry from her forever. "Maybe some of your new-found magic can save you now."

"I don't need it, I already won." Regina's face fell at Emma's words. "There's no way Henry will swallow your lies about Archie now." The words cut through Regina like a knife and her anger fell away from her eyes as terror set in. She turned from Emma, taking a few steps back toward David and Blue. Her eyes met David's and she felt his name fall from her lips but no sound came out. His eyes pleaded with her and she felt the baby move within her.

Spinning back, she met Emma's eyes, and then Snow's and then glanced down toward the hand on her belly. She had to stop herself. She couldn't do this. For the first time in her life she knew that she couldn't fight; not if she was ever to see Henry again.

"You can pretend all you want but we know how you are and who you will always be. And one day your child will know it too." Regina's eyes glistened with tears as she looked back up to Emma. The woman took a threatening step forward, handcuffs in hand; but her words poured over Regina's heart like acid.

Regina let out a sob, unwilling to let Emma humiliate her further, and threw her arms in the air, disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

"Where'd she go?" Blue questioned, staring at the same spot on the pavement Emma was; where Regina had been standing.

No one answered the question. "How could you," Snow breathed out and Emma glanced at her before realizing she was looking straight at David. "You were warning her, weren't you? You were helping her? Even though you saw her do it." Snow's eyes filled with tears. "Her magic really has taken you in, hasn't it?"

"No," David took a step towards her but Snow shrunk back. "Snow, it's not like that, please."

"Maybe its best if you don't come back with us." Emma spoke gently, squeezing her father's forearm as Snow turned away from them completely. He watched desperately as the three women made their way down the path and away from Regina's garden. Blue looked over her shoulder as they turned behind the hedge, though in her expression she offered no reassurance.

David didn't know what to do. Regina had disappeared and his wife and daughter had walked away. He turned around, looking back up at Regina's house as he fought the tears that sprang to his eyes. He didn't understand what was going on. His heart was battling with his head and his mind was telling him to follow Snow, but his feet just wouldn't move and his eyes wouldn't break from the shining gold numbers on the door.

He knew he was supposed to want Snow. He knew that he was supposed to want to chase after her and make everything better, to apologize profusely and beg her to forgive him. But he couldn't help wondering – and fearing – where Regina had gone. He'd heard her sob as she'd disappeared and he couldn't help but imagine her huddled in the dark corner somewhere, weeping over everything that she'd lost.

His eyes widened as he remembered the last place he'd seen her so distraught and the image of her broken and sobbing suddenly brought back the memory of her standing in the centre of the stables with a man she'd loved for over a lifetime, frozen by her own magic.

Taking a deep breath, David turned and headed for the stables. If he was going to search for her, he'd start there.

To Be Continued.


	12. Chapter 12

Henry stood in the hallway at the top of the stairs as he waited for Emma to shrug on her coat and for Archie to attach Pongo's leash. In the pit of his stomach, Henry was nervous and if he could admit it, a little scared. Not long ago he'd been plotting defences if ever his mother were to come for him, when he'd known in his heart that the last thing she'd ever want was to see him hurt. He'd known that, he'd _felt_ it all his life.

It was only as the curse broke that he was able to see what was truly in her heart; that he'd been able to see how complicated she was or just how much the curse had corrupted her. It was as if the curse breaking had opened the flood-gates on her heart, and everything she'd been trying to feel all his life, suddenly flowed out of her with more strength than either of them could handle. It was what he'd always wanted, it's what he'd always hoped she could give him – and it wasn't until that moment that he truly understood that she couldn't have loved him like that no matter how hard she tried – and then all of a sudden she was grasping at him, clinging to any semblance of what they'd had because she was terrified she'd lose him. It had frightened him.

He'd fought her; and he was starting to wonder if that had been the best idea. The adults didn't tell him much; they'd send him off to school and he'd come home to be told that his mother had killed one of the first people he'd really trusted or cared for. He only saw snippets of what happened around him, waist height to the rest of the world, Henry was frustrated that he was never allowed to be a part of the action.

He'd told them all that he wanted to be a hero, and they all seemed to think it was a novel ideal; but when it came down to the really dangerous stuff, he was hidden away in his bedroom like a little child locked in a tower; not trusted to help. But he knew if anyone was going to get through to his mom, it was going to be him.

Archie grabbed his hand and Henry grinned up at him, jogging down the stairs with his friend; Pongo ambled down beside them and as he threw a look over his shoulder, Emma smirked and winked her eye at him, strolling down the stairs with her hands in her pockets.

They were going to find his Mom and he was surprised to find that he was actually excited.

They made their way out into the street. Archie let Pongo's lead out a little as they walked, heading down the road towards Emma's car. Halfway down the lane they all froze; Henry and Archie turned around, facing Emma with wide eyes as her phone started the chirp.

Henry watched her patiently as she answered the call. "What? What do you mean?" Emma's impassive expression turned into a frown. "Yeah, sure, I'll be right there."

She hung up the phone quickly and tucked it back in her pocket, turning her eyes to Archie momentarily and Henry couldn't quite pin-point the look she gave him, before she pulled his attention with a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Henry," She spoke gently, looking down at him from her superior height. "We're going to have to put the search on hold."

Henry's heart broke in half. "What? Why?" He hadn't realized how much he'd really wanted to feel his mother's arms around him, forgiving him, until he felt the tears prick at his eyes.

"There's been an accident, Henry; at the town line." She glanced up at Archie, lowering her voice with a serious timbre. "Gold and Belle were attacked," She frowned.

"Belle said when she found me, that Hook was after Gold." Archie added and Emma nodded.

"I have to go, Henry, I'm the sheriff."

"But what about my Mom?"

"We'll look for her after. I'm sure wherever she is, she's safe. If anyone knows how to protect themselves in this town, Henry," She smiled an oddly proud smile and Henry's head tilted just slightly. "It's your Mom."

"We can't just leave her!" He cried and Emma looked up to Archie for support but the man shrugged his shoulders.

"What would it hurt for us to keep looking and coordinate with you when you're done with Hook?"

Emma turned to Archie, brows set in a straight line and her lips tight. "If Cora is loose in this town, the last thing I want is for Henry to be in danger."

"All the more reason to keep looking for my Mom." Henry's voice drew the eyes of the two adults and he felt their silent push to continue his thought. "Cora's here, so my Mom needs to know that we don't blame her. She needs to know that we trust her."

"Henry's right, Emma," Archie frowned apologetically. "Right now, Regina could use all the help she can get. She's in a fragile state. She's out there all alone, she's pregnant; her emotions are going to be all over the place and the accusations of the town over my murder, can't have helped. She needs to know she has our support or her mother is going to manage to reel her in." He sighed.

Emma found herself reluctantly nodding her head slowly, remembering the almost feral look of determination in Cora's eyes as she'd fought them for the compass. She'd wanted to get through, to get to Regina and Emma wasn't entirely able to comprehend the relationship that they had, but she was starting to understand that whatever it was, it was poisonous to Regina.

* * *

"Regina!" David called down the stairs. He'd tried the stables, calling her name down every corridor and into every stall, spooking the horses unintentionally as his worry grew higher and higher. She hadn't been there and he hadn't really been all that surprised. It was cold there; and dark and musty from the cool mist sweeping through the town. She was devastated but she wasn't stupid and he knew she wouldn't risk catching a fever in the night air.

She didn't answer to her name, but David was sure there couldn't possibly be anywhere else she'd run, short of fleeing the town forever. A part of him knew it'd take a lot of force to get her to do that, though. As strong as she was, he had the overwhelming feeling Regina was Storybrooke's greatest advocate.

"Regina!" He called again, listening to his boots on the cold concrete as he stumbled down the steps. His fingers trailed along the course red-bricks as he rounded the corner and staggered into the corridor, wishing there were more light. "Regina, are you down here?" He asked the walls of mirrors lining the hallway. There was one large one at the end of the hall, framed with smaller, intricate mirrors to each side.

Still, there was no response. He turned his head, catching his finger on the edge of the ornate mirror as he turned to leave, but he froze when he heard an almost inaudible click. He turned around; realizing that his finger had brushed a small latch underneath the edge of the mirror and the wall had come away.

"Regina," He breathed, pushing gently at what had now become a door, until he found himself surround by light, stepping into a room entirely different to the hallway outside. This room was gently lit with light glittering off the shining decorative apples adorning a white tree. Beads hung from its boughs and around it stood the ornate gowns of the evil queen. More mirrors covered the walls and as David let his eyes travel around the room, he could see flowers and crystals and Regina's jewellery hanging on carved mannequins.

"How did you find me?" Her voice was soft and quiet; it was almost hesitant as he looked up to see her peering at him through the branches of her tree. David didn't know how to answer, letting his eyes roam around the room once against, realizing where he was before he set his eyes back on her.

This was her sanctuary.

"You weren't in the stables, and I remembered Henry came here once." He studied the gown closest to her with recognition – it was the one she wore when she held him captive and taunted him with the apple – and she noticed him looking at it, letting a frown tarnish her features as she watched him remember. But somehow, looking her up and down and studying the gown, he couldn't seem to bring himself to associate this woman with that dress or the memory.

She looked so small, standing there with her hands on her belly, tears glistening in her eyes but not falling. She wasn't the fierce woman that had sauntered into his cell in that dress, flaunting her victory in his face.

She nodded her head slowly, twisting her fingers together as she stepped around the tree. The room wasn't large and with the amount of Evil Queen Memorabilia filling it, David and Regina were forced to stand closer than he'd expected; but he didn't step away from her, something stopped him. "Why did you come? You were all so sure I was guilty."

"No," He sighed, reaching out to grasp her arm gently. "No, Regina, that's why I warned you they were coming; I don't think you are."

"Okay," She cast her eyes down, taking a deep breath and staring at her shoes. "So what do we do?" She looked back up and David could see, for perhaps the first time, the fear in her eyes. "I can't go back there; they all think I killed Archie."

"Then we make them believe that you didn't."

"How?"

"By," David's phone ringing caught them both by surprise and Regina jumped back, pressing her hand to her heart as she stepped away from him. David pulled the phone from his pocket, watching Regina as she stepped around him, averting her eyes as though some moment they might have had, where she trusted him and wanted his help, was suddenly destroyed.

He watched her carefully, meeting her eye just before he raised the phone to his ear and answered. "Hello."

His eyes widened, shock written all over his face and Regina stared, confused, as his mouth gaped in shock. "What? How?" He frowned, gripping the phone tighter as he listened to the caller on the other end of the line. He was trying to watch Regina's movements as he listened; even going so far as to reach out and grasp her hand gently, as if to let her know that he wasn't giving up. He'd come looking for her, he wasn't about to abandon her now. "Yeah, I'm with her," He nodded his head as though the person on the other end of the line could see him and he let a small smile grow on his lips as she watched their hands together. "You just stay there; we'll come to you."

Both of their attention was caught by a voice coming from the hall and David watched distractedly as he listened to the phone, and Regina stepped up to the mirror. She waved her hand and suddenly the mirror became a window to the hall outside, revealing Henry, tossing his head from side to side, searching for her in the darkness. "Mom!" He called but David could hear another voice on the other end of the line that sent a shot of terror through his blood.

He watched, frozen, as Regina pulled the door open and the little boy they both loved, fell into his mother's arms. David quickly hung up, tossing his phone onto the table and striding across the room. He reefed Regina and Henry apart, holding them each at arm's length as he placed his body in front of Regina.

"David, what are you doing?" She hissed, shoving his hand away and trying to reach for her son.

"Mom, what's going on?" Tears sprung to Henry's eyes and David practically bared his teeth at the boy.

"This isn't Henry, Regina."

"What?" She gasped, looking between the two with surprise and mistrust. "That's not possible, David. It's Henry." She tried to shove him away again but David grabbed her shoulders with both hands and gently shook her. He stepped completely in front of her, blocking her view of Henry as he peered down at her.

"It's not your son, Regina, I know because that was Archie on the phone."

Regina's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"He's alive, Regina and he has Henry with him."

"No," She whispered, letting a single tear fall. "No, this is Henry. He's come for me."

"He is coming, Regina. He's searching for you. But this isn't him."

"Listen to the Prince, Darling," The sudden sharp-tongued voice, startled them both and David's arms instinctively wrapped around Regina, pulling her close as he tugged her away from the woman that appeared in a cloud of dark-blue smoke. "He's actually right, for a change."

"Mother," Regina breathed, clutching David's jacket so tightly her knuckles went white.

"Yes, dear, it's me. And I must say," She chuckled, studying the way they held each other. "This is something I did not expect." She eyed David with a smirk. " I suppose that would make you the father then?" She questioned and David narrowed his eyes at her.

"Don't come any closer." He warned and Cora took a teasing step forward with a sinister grin on her lips.

"Do you honestly believe you could stop me, if I wanted you out of my way?" She blinked and David could feel Regina's grip on him loosen. She pulled away from him and the confusion on his face was clear as she stepped out of his hold.

Regina stepped in front of him. "Leave him alone, Mother."

"Now, darling, he just threatened me; why would I do that?" She tilted her head.

"Because I'm asking you to."

Cora watched them, the way David stepped up behind her daughter and placed a hand around her middle, pulling her back against him with a large, protective hand across the small round of her belly. "This whole scene is startlingly familiar, sweetheart. You, standing against me with a poor stable-boy. Didn't you learn? This one might call himself a prince, my dear, but he's still a shepherd and we can do so much better for you."

"Just stop it!" Regina cried. "You've come all this way just for this?" Regina shook her head, stepping out of David's grasp and pushing his hand away.

"No," Cora shook her head with a smile. "No, I've come to make amends."

Regina looked sceptical. "Really?"

"I want to help you. Because I love you," Cora sighed. "I've always shown it in all the wrong ways," David could see Regina's eyes fill with tears as she turned her eyes down to her toes. "I'm so sorry."

Regina looked back up to her mother. "You framed me for the Cricket."

"I wanted you to see what these people really think of you." David clenched his teeth, taking an angered step toward Cora, but Regina stopped him with her arm.

"You made an air-tight case," The tears in her eyes started to spill over as she gripped the front of David's shirt, never looking away from her mother. "Anyone would believe it."

"Regina," David breathed, but Cora ignored him and pushed on.

"I didn't want you to reject me; again."

Regina shook her head. "You wanted me broken."

"Receptive," Cora corrected.

Regina laughed bitterly. "I'm not going to argue, mother." She grabbed David's hand, much to his surprise and pulled him towards the door. "Come with us, we're going into town."

"It's the middle of the night."

"I don't care," Regina stopped with her hand on the doorknob. "We're going to town and you're going to tell everyone how you lied."

"Give up, Cora," David loomed over her, stepping towards her with Regina's hand still in his behind him. "You came here to win your daughter, but you've failed. She's changed and no matter what you say, you won't win her back. She's too strong and she's got too much to fight for."

"You think you're so righteous, don't you, Prince?" Cora gritted her teeth. Reaching her hand up towards his chest; David didn't recognize the movement right away, continuing to glare down at the sorceress as she pulled her hand back and thrust it towards him. David jumped, startled when Cora's hand froze millimetres from his shirt and his eyes widened as Regina stepped around him, her hand risen and crackling with magic.

He could see fear in Cora's eyes as Regina pushed David aside, keeping her hand up and clenching her fist in order to keep her mother frozen. "David, grab that lamp." Regina kept her eyes set on her mother's as David did as instructed and she could feel her heart pull as her mother's dark eyes begged her. "Never again." Regina spoke softly, just loud enough for her mother to hear as she leaned in close to her face. "You took Daniel away from me and even though David will never be mine," Even though her voice was soft, in the confines of the small room, he could hear every shaky word. "I will not let you take him from my child."

"Sweetheart, I would do anything for,"

"No," She breathed, cutting her off. "This is the last time you'll ever manipulate me, mother. I'm done." Regina took the lamp from David, twisting the hand that was holding her mother in place until rich purple magic engulfed Cora and twirled around her. Cora's eyes never left her as the magic whirled around her, pulling on her until the magic completely wrapped her up and pulled her down into the lamp.

"That's a genie lamp." David spoke softly and Regina nodded.

"It's enchanted," She spoke absently, handing the lamp back to David. "I've spelled it so that she can't ever get out."

He watched her as she walked towards the door, resting her hand on the knob before taking a deep breath, letting her shoulders slump. "Regina," He spoke softly, staring at her back, but she shook her head; not wanting to hear it. "She was your mother; it's okay to feel,"

She cut him off. "Its fine," She looked over her shoulder with glassy eyes. "She'd have only hurt me again," She pressed her hand to her belly, smiling even though it didn't entirely reach her eyes. "And you were right; I have too much to fight for now."

David set the lamp on the table and reached for her; grasping the hand that she had against her belly and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest until she relaxed into him, letting his warm arms encircle her as she breathed in the smell of him. She pressed her eyes closed, wondering if she could imagine they were Daniel's arms. The smell was almost the same, but where Daniel smelled of hay-bales and the fresh, autumn air, David smelled of saw-dust and coffee. Close; not entirely unpleasant and the feel of his arms around her settled her nerves so much that for the first time in weeks, she felt safe.

To Be Continued.


	13. Chapter 13

This is the final chapter. I hope everyone has enjoyed this story and would be kind enough to let me know how they felt about it. Thanks so much for sticking with it.

* * *

**4 Months Later:**

David practically felt all the colour drain from his face as Regina's vice-like grip crushed his hand into the mattress. She pressed down into the bed, crunching his hand under the ball of her wrist as her whole body arched up away from him. She screamed through clenched teeth and David pressed his eyes closed at the sound and the fear of never getting his hand back. For a brief moment he compared Regina's labour with Snow's, wondering why the pain wasn't shared like this, back when she'd given birth to Emma; but then he remembered the woman breathing heavily in the bed beside him, with her hair stuck to the side of her face and her plump lips sucked in between her teeth as she fell back against the mattress; and he thought better of the comparison.

Regina wasn't Snow White; and he decided his attention was better utilized trying to help her breathe and preventing her from killing any of the nurses. The one nurse that seemed to be able to avoid her wrath checked her over again; the woman had, early on, decided that she wasn't going to take any of Regina's crap and he could see that she was more experienced in the job. Clearly Regina respected her no-nonsense demeanour and – due to the knowledge that she knew someone had to help her – Regina allowed her, and only her, to stay.

"Alright, Regina," She grinned as she pulled the sheet back down over Regina's legs. "It's time to get the Doctor now,"

"No," Regina rolled her head against the pillow, crying with her cheek pressed to the fabric, squeezing her eyes shut as she rolled into David's chest, burying her face in his shirt. "Make it stop," She breathed and David shared a glance with the nurse who, whilst she'd formed a rapport with the Queen over the last several hours, did harbour a curious amusement at seeing Regina beg.

"Regina, it's almost over," He soothed, running the fingers of his free hand through her hair, brushing the thick ebony locks out of her face. "Just a little bit more work to do and you're home free."

"Don't attempt to placate me, Charming." She growled.

"Don't give up, Regina." He smirked when she opened her eyes and glared up at him. "I never picked you for a quitter."

Regina opened her mouth to retort when another contraction hit her; David lost all hope that his hand had any chance of survival and tried to ride through the pain as she crushed it again, this time scrunching up the blankets in her balled fists along with his fingers.

Doctor Whale entered the room as her back arched, meeting David's eye and offering him a sympathetic smile. David had been the only one, throughout the past several hours, who hadn't had a chance to leave Regina's side. She'd allowed him toilet breaks early on, but once the contractions reached a level at which she couldn't control the anguish on her face, David was set in his spot and wouldn't move.

He'd started to regret that decision, when she took his hand and used it to channel her pain. He knew it was nowhere near the pain she was feeling – and he was sure there was a few people outside at that very moment that thought it was far less than she deserved – but it still hurt and he was still petrified that he'd never regain full function in his fingers.

"Alright, Regina," Whale spoke gently and Regina's eyes set on him as she collapsed back to the bed again, far too exhausted to give him a full glare, instead staring at him with half-lidded, angry eyes. "The nurse informed me that you're fully dilated, so I suppose it's time."

"Not him," Regina ground out, turning her eyes up to David.

David rolled his eyes. "Come on, Regina, first the nurses now,"

She cut him off. "Not. Him. Anyone but him."

"Regina," He warned but she pulled her other hand – that she wasn't using to cripple him – and raised it from the bed. David could feel the whole room start to shake, a metal tray clattered to the floor as the earth rumbled, scattering metal utensils across the floor with an ear-piercing crash. The floor shook and magic crackled around her hand, crawling up her arm as a swirling ball of magic started to form. Regina aimed it – as best she could in her state – at the Doctor, who dived out of the way as it crashed into the wall. "REGINA!" David shouted, launching his upper body across the bed as best he could to pin her arm to the mattress.

"I said, _not him!" _She ground out, writhing against him. As he held her down he could feel her start to give in; she was far too tired and in far too much pain to fight him and he could see the tears roll from her eyes and roll down her flushed cheeks. "Please, David," She met his eyes and he saw a vulnerability in her eyes that halted him. She pressed her eyes closed, pushing more tears down her cheeks as she stopped fighting. "Please don't let him touch my baby."

"Okay, Regina," He breathed. "It's alright." He looked over his shoulder, pressing his eyes closed in relief as he saw the theatre door swinging, signifying the Doctor's hasty retreat.

* * *

Victor dashed through the doors, out into the hall. So many curious eyes followed him as he ran past the waiting room, stopped only by Ruby's patient hands. "What happened? Was that an earthquake?" She questioned, holding his arm firmly as he scanned the room with his eyes. He caught Henry's and sighed, seeing the look of worry on the boy's face.

"Is my Mom okay?" Henry asked, dashing over from where he'd been sitting between Emma and a distracted looking Snow White.

"She's fine, Henry," He nodded, taking a deep breath. "But she doesn't want me to deliver the baby." His eyebrows lifted as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his white coat. "She let off a bit of magic to prove her point."

"A bit?" Emma scoffed and Victor shrugged.

"Why not? You're the Doctor." Snow offered absently, addressing David's first statement and no one could really fault her detached, irritated tone of voice. She was only there because Emma had asked her to keep her company because Henry had insisted on being there throughout the whole ordeal. She'd had to remove herself several times, finding herself in the ambulance bay, hiding behind a shrub, doing her best to control her breathing; she refused to cry.

David was in the delivery room, holding the hand of the woman giving birth to his baby and she knew that David had come to see something different in Regina; even she had to admit that Regina was changing; but she couldn't get past the fact that her husband – estranged or not – was comforting the woman who had tried to kill her multiple times throughout her life.

She thought; perhaps it would have been easier to take if she couldn't clearly see he had feelings for Regina. Maybe then it wouldn't hurt so much; after all, it was one night before the curse broke; she didn't honestly blame him for the act. It was everything since that broke her heart. He'd been trying to make it up to her, to win her back; but then at the next turn he was fussing over Regina and catering to her every need. Snow didn't know what to think or feel.

"I don't really blame her," Victor stated with a shrug. "We have history." Emma eyed him warily and Victor found her scrutiny rather uncomfortable before she took a deep breath and glanced around the group.

"Has anyone else delivered a baby before?"

"You've had one," Ruby offered and Emma narrowed her eyes in amusement.

"It's not the same thing."

"What about Doc?" Snow offered. "He delivered Emma."

"I was delivered by a dwarf?" She sputtered and Henry chuckled down at her side. She playfully shoved him away with the heel of her palm against his temple and he just laughed harder.

"I don't honestly think Doc's gonna want to get anywhere near the Queen's lady-parts." Grumpy chimed in, garnering a dramatic eye-roll from every woman in the group, and a disgusted glare from the Doctor. Henry scrunched his nose up and covered his ears with a dramatic "Eww!"

"Well what then?" Emma asked again. "I know there isn't a great deal of love for Regina in this town, but someone needs to help her deliver this baby."

"She'll tear the walls down if I head in there again." Victor grumbled and Emma crossed the group, standing before him with a reassuring smile.

"Apologise to her."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you did, clearly she's still pissed. Apologise and let her know that she needs you to help her if she's going to ensure her baby's okay."

"I don't know how easy that's going to be." He sighed, looking worried.

"Why? What could you have possibly done that was so bad?"

Victor chewed on his bottom lip, casting his eyes across each of their faces as he pondered whether or not to tell them. They all heard a long, strangled cry coming from the delivery room and he glanced over his shoulder, starting to regret the deal he'd made all those years ago. A part of him had always hated what he'd done.

"I made a deal with Rumpelstiltskin," He shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny. "He needed a monster and I helped him make one." They all studied him curiously and he sighed, deeply. "My part of the bargain was to trick Regina into believing her dead fiancé could be brought back to life, hence creating the monster Rumple needed to enact the curse. The monster being Regina and the fiancé being,"

"Daniel," Snow breathed and Victor nodded, casting his eyes to the floor.

"Not my finest hour."

"I'd probably hold a grudge too," Emma stated and Victor caught the disapproving set of her eyes. "So you've gotta make it right."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"She can't hate you more than Rumple,"

"Or me," Snow added and Emma noticed Ruby grip her mother's arm in reassurance.

"So you apologise and convince her or David's going to have to deliver that kid and I'm pretty sure that's probably not the best idea."

Victor studied her for a long moment before he slowly nodded his head. "Alright," He sighed. "I'll try." He turned back towards the doors, taking a deep breath before stepping through into the hall and heading back towards Regina's room.

Snow was about to make a snide remark about leaving Regina to deal with herself when she caught sight of Henry pacing in front of the doors. His little brow was furrowed and his arms were crossed over his chest. "Do you guys think Mom's going to be okay?" He asked no one in particular and Snow's heart softened.

"Of course, Henry," Emma crouched down in front of him. "She's going to be fine and in a little while, you'll be able to show everyone what a great big brother you are."

"Yeah," He grinned. "I will be a pretty great big brother, won't I?"

"The best." Ruby chimed in, throwing Grumpy a steadying glare to ensure he kept his mouth shut and gripped Snow's hand, offering her a sympathetic smile.

* * *

"Now, Regina," Victor held his hands up in surrender as he made his way back into the room. Regina had her teeth clenched and the sweat on her brow made her look like she'd just run a marathon. Considering what was going on with her body in that moment, the exhaustion about equated to it. "Just hear me out."

The room hummed with magic and David quickly but gently squeezed Regina's hand, running his thumb over hers to soothe her so that Victor could at least get close to the bed. "What?" She spat, glaring at him, but he could hear the whimper in her voice.

"You want this over, Regina, I know that. But you need to let me help you." She looked away, chewing on her bottom lip and he knew the tears were more for the pain than the memories, but he couldn't pin-point where to draw that line. "I'm," He sighed. "Regina, I'm sorry for what I did."

"You're sorry," She scoffed, gripping David's hand tighter and remembering herself.

"Yes, Regina, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything and whether you like it or not, this baby is not going to wait for you to forgive me, so you need to shut up and let me help you."

Regina opened her mouth to protest but she could feel it wasn't the time, David held her hand firmly, running his other hand up and down her back in soothing circles as she pitched forward. "Let him help you, Regina," David spoke gently in her ear and she turned quickly, meeting his eyes as she breathed heavily. "Please."

All she could do was nod, meeting Victor's eye before he grabbed the stool he'd kicked aside when he fled and rolled it towards the end of the bed. David wrapped his arm around Regina's back, holding her firmly against his chest and prepared himself for the pain that was about to shoot through his hand again, tenfold as this whole ordeal came to its climax.

"Okay, Regina," Victor warned. "Don't push until I say."

She nodded shakily, pressing her eyes shut and releasing a long breath, waiting for the instruction.

* * *

"Hey, kid," Emma shook Henry's shoulder gently. He woke slowly, lifting his head off her lap with a groan as he sat up. "Someone's come out to say hello." Henry was suddenly wide awake, sitting up excitedly as David crossed the room with a small pink bundle in his arms.

"You were the first person she wanted to see," David said gently, kneeling down in front of Henry with a grin on his face.

"You mean after you and Mom," Henry grinned.

David chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. She was pretty happy to see your Mom."

Henry studied the baby closely; she was snuggled tightly in David's arms, swaddled up in pink blankets and all he could really see of her was a tiny set of bright pink, pouty lips and a strong tuft of thick, black hair poking out from the blanket. Her eyes were closed; she was asleep. But Henry was excited to see her.

"What's her name?" He looked up at David and the man smiled.

David grinned wider. "Her name is Bonnie."

"Cool." He beamed down at the baby as her eyes slowly fluttered open. Large blue pools set on Henry and he grinned, reaching out to touch her pink cheek. "She's smiling at me!" He exclaimed and Emma nudged him with a chuckle.

"I'm pretty sure that's just gas, kid."

"No, she smiled!" He declared, grinning from ear to ear. "She likes me." He looked up at David. "Can I see Mom now?"

David looked to Emma who nodded her consent, smiling softly at the little bundle in David's arms that seemed to be doing her best to see everything she could. "I suppose the kid is my little sister too?" She questioned and David frowned awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry about that; I know it's a little weird."

Emma waved him off. "So I share a sister with my son; I also live in a town full of fairytale characters off the coast of Maine, what's weird anymore?"

"Thanks, Emma." He nodded, grabbing Henry's hand and tugging him along. "Come on Henry, I'm pretty sure your Mom's gonna start throwing fireballs at Doctor Whale if we don't get Bonnie back to her soon."

"Did she really shoot fireballs at Doctor Whale earlier?" Emma listened to the two of them jabbering all the way down the hall, smiling as she grabbed her coat and pulled it on. Snow appeared through the outside doors and Emma turned, surprised.

"Hey," She smiled gently at her mother and Snow nodded.

"Hey, where's Henry?"

"David just came out with the baby; he's taken Henry back to see Regina."

"I'm kind of glad I missed that." Snow pressed her lips into a thin line, meeting her daughter's eye quickly before averting her eyes. "I suppose that's it then." Snow nodded, pulling her scarf from the chair next to Emma. Ruby had headed home a few hours before, dragging a grumpy-faced Grumpy; it was the middle of the night after all and she had to open the diner first thing.

"You okay?"

"Sure," Snow shrugged. "Everything's alright with the baby, it's healthy and everything?"

"Yeah," Emma sighed, studying her mother carefully, trying not to let her see her pity. "She's perfectly fine."

"Good," Snow nodded, heading for the door. "Henry will be fine with them tonight; he probably won't want to leave her."

"Yeah," Emma nodded, tucking her hands in her pockets and watching sadly as Snow made her way towards the exit as quickly as she could. "Sure."She didn't blame her; Snow hadn't wanted to spend her night in the waiting room for Regina to have her baby in the first place. It was Henry that had begged Emma and Emma that had begged her mother; and in turn, Snow that had begged Ruby. The only one that had wanted to be there was Henry and he was the only one that couldn't do so alone.

* * *

"She's so cool, Mom." Henry beamed at Regina as David passed the baby to her, resting the little bundle in the crook of her arm as she lay half on her side. She barely had the strength to hold Bonnie up, but she was forcing herself to stay awake to see Henry; when he bounded up to her, clambering up onto the bed with a broad grin, matching the one she had as she looked down at the baby.

"She is indeed, Henry."

Henry rolled over so that he could lie on the bed beside Regina, sprawled out on his stomach with his feet kicking in the air behind him and his chin in his hands, watching as Regina shuffled Bonnie closer and kissed her forehead.

The baby's eyes opened; thick black lashes fluttering as she looked at Regina. "See, I was right!" He declared and Regina chuckled tiredly at his excitement. "She does smile."

"Of course she smiles, Henry. She can hear you talking," Regina shared a look with David. "She knows when her big brother is in the room."

"I'm gonna go," David smiled nervously, grabbing his coat from the chair in the corner and turning back to the small family huddled on the bed. He had to admit, bundled up in the bed with both of her children, Regina looked as though she could never harm a soul; and maybe she wouldn't anymore, there was no way to know; he couldn't help the smile that came to his lips though, as he watched her and realized he didn't care. She was Regina, good and bad, and the way she was looking at their daughter made his heart melt. "You did really good today, Regina."

Regina sighed, sinking lower into the pillows with a contented smile. "Sorry about your hand."

David chuckled, raising his battered hand in front of his face, playfully frowning at the purplish tinge to it. "I'm sure it'll come good in a week or two," He smirked. "I don't think you broke any bones."

"That's good."

"Night Henry," David ruffled his hair and Henry swatted his hand away with a laugh, shuffling closer to Regina on the bed so that he could peer down at the baby that was squirming and stretching in his mother's arms.

"Night David," He grinned without looking up.

"Night Regina," He said in a softer tone, meeting her eyes with a faint smile, unable to pull himself away so fast. Something passed between them, something he hadn't felt before and David hesitated before finally taking a deep breath and turning to leave. But suddenly, to his surprise, a small hand grasped his and he froze.

"Maybe you should stay," She suggested, smiling sweetly as he turned back around. "I mean, Bonnie's still awake and Henry's way too excited to go to sleep any time soon, are you Henry?" They both looked to her son who was trying to get Bonnie to follow his finger with her eyes. They both laughed. "Please," She turned her eyes back up to him. "Stay?"

"Only if I'm not intruding." He said softly and Regina squeezed his hand. They'd been trying to work out what they felt for months, but between his desperate attempts to make amends with Snow and his confused, bumbling actions towards her, headway had barely been made since the night they'd trapped Cora. They'd established they had feelings for each other but Regina was still so hesitant that those feelings would never stretch beyond the shared love they had for Bonnie.

"You're Bonnie's father," She grinned, struggling to keep her eyes open. "You're not intruding. You couldn't."

David lowered himself to the chair beside the bed, sitting on the edge so that he could peer over at Bonnie's face. She had her eyes closed again, much to Henry's disappointment, but his fascination with her hadn't seemed to wane. He looked up at Regina, seeing the way she watched Henry as he rested his head on her hip and sighed contentedly. Reaching up, David brushed a lock of hair from Regina's face and she sighed happily at the gesture, letting her tired eyes close as his finger trailed a tender line down her jaw.

"Thank you for staying with me." She smiled but kept her eyes closed.

"You asked; of course."

"No," She blinked her eyes open again for a moment, looking up at him. "I meant today, when I didn't ask; thank you."

"I couldn't let you do it alone."

Regina sighed again, resting her cheek on the pillow and David knew she'd finally fallen asleep for good. Gently, he reached over and took Bonnie from her arms, gesturing for Henry to pull the blankets up over Regina. The boy did as he was bid, pulling the covers up to her chin and laughing when she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him against her. Henry didn't fight it, he just kicked his shoes off and snuggled against her, feeling his own eyes droop.

David watched them for a while; Henry's breathing started to even out and he knew that within minutes, mother and son were fast asleep. "Just you and me now; hey sweetheart." He smirked, lifting the baby up so that he could nuzzle her nose with his own; she looked up at him through her long dark lashes and David started to wonder if Henry was right about her smiles – either that or her gas was really well timed. "I'll never let anyone hurt you, Bonnie, and your mom, well," He chuckled. "You're going to understand your mom one day, but not too soon. Just know that she loves you and she'd moved mountains for you. Be careful not to ask though, because she actually can," He kissed her cheek, smiling as her little rose-bud mouth parted in a wide yawn.

"I think you saved her, sweetheart." He sat back in the chair, resting his head back and setting his feet up on the edge of the bed. He raised the baby to rest on his chest, patting her tiny frame to soothe her as he whispered in her ear. "Thank you."

The End.


End file.
